Overview

• Niinami’s resignation took effect on September 1 after he told Suntory on August 22 that he was under investigation, with President Nobuhiro Torii assuming top operational responsibility.
• Fukuoka prefectural police are investigating supplements Niinami purchased, and media reports citing investigators say the products may have contained THC and were sent from overseas.
• Police searched his Tokyo home in August in a case linked to a July arrest, and reports say no illegal substances were found and a THC drug test was negative.
• Niinami denies wrongdoing and told the company he believed the supplements were legal, while Suntory emphasized the products were not made by the group.
• Suntory said the decision would stand regardless of legal outcomes, reflecting Japan’s strict cannabis laws and the governance expectations facing a leader who also chairs the Keizai Doyukai.