Overview

• Tokyo Metropolitan Police and seven prefectural forces arrested Delpara’s president Masanori Yamamoto and five executives on suspicion of promising cash for votes in July’s upper house election.
• Investigators say managers instructed store heads to mobilize staff for a specific proportional candidate, collect photos of marked ballots, and report results to headquarters.
• Authorities are examining reports that the promised 3,000–4,000 yen per vote was to be disguised as overtime pay, and they have conducted searches and interviews as the inquiry continues.
• Police believe more than 250 employees across the company’s 31 stores followed the directive, with the alleged push centered on industry figure Yoshihisa Abe, who ultimately lost his bid.
• In a separate wartime issues backdrop, Yamaguchi Prefectural Police are testing bone-like material found at the Chosei undersea coal mine as the government weighs any dive survey, and the grandson of a real-life research institute chief says he plans a BPO filing over an NHK drama’s portrayal.