en Tsukasa Akimoto

Tsukasa Akimoto
Tsukasa Akimoto
秋元司
	Official portrait, 2018
Member of the House of Representatives
	In office; 21 December 2012 – 14 October 2021
Preceded by	Multi-member district
Succeeded by	Mito Kakizawa
Constituency	Tokyo PR (2012–2017); Tokyo 15th (2017–2021)
Member of the House of Councillors
	In office; July 2004 – July 2010
Constituency	National PR
Personal details
Born	23 October 1971 (age 53); Adachi, Tokyo, Tokyo
Political party	Independent
Other political; affiliations	Liberal Democratic
Alma mater	Daito Bunka University

Tsukasa Akimoto (秋元司, Akimoto Tsukasa, born October 23, 1971) is a former Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party, who served in the House of Councillors and the House of Representatives. A native of Adachi, Tokyo, he graduated from Daito Bunka University.

Career

After working as a secretary in the office of Diet member Kōki Kobayashi Akimoto became a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet between 2004 and 2010 running in the national PR block. He was a member of the House of Representatives between 2012 and 2021 running in the Tokyo 15th district and served as a deputy minister in the Third and Fourth Abe Cabinet.

Bribery scandal

Late December 2019, Akimoto was arrested for allegedly receiving up to ¥7.6 million in bribes from 500.com, a Chinese gambling operator interested in setting up a casino in the country.^[1] On September 7, 2021, the court sentenced him to four years in prison and fined the amount equal to the bribes he had received. He was also found guilty of offering to bribe witnesses to falsify their court testimony.^[2] In March of 2024, the sentence was upheld in the Tokyo High Court but the case is pending further appeal.^[3]