Corruption Scandal at University of Tokyo Hospital: Opaque Donations May Have Created Collusive Relationship

Editorial

15:51 JST, December 5, 2025

Opaque donations seem to have become the source of a collusive relationship between a doctor and a corporation. The university must review its methods for collecting donations and the system for managing them.

The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested a doctor, who is an associate professor of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, on suspicion he accepted bribes for the selection of medical equipment used at the university’s affiliated hospital.

The doctor is suspected of accepting about ¥700,000 in bribes from a Tokyo-based medical equipment manufacturer in the name of “donations for academic research” between 2021 and 2023 in exchange for introducing the company’s products at the University of Tokyo Hospital.

Employees of national university corporations are considered “quasi-civil servants” and can be charged for taking bribes. This associate professor was reportedly in a position where he could select medical equipment used in orthopedic surgeries.

Under the University of Tokyo system for donations from companies or individuals, if the donations are addressed to individual doctors, 86% is distributed to those doctors.

The associate professor is alleged to have received donations totaling ¥3 million from five companies, including the manufacturer, and to have spent ¥1.5 million of that for personal use.

Donations from corporations are intended to promote academic and research advancement. The doctor allegedly accepted such funds as compensation for the purchase of equipment and also diverted them for such purposes as purchasing electronic devices for his family. This is totally unacceptable and will likely raise questions about the university’s lax checking system.

Earlier this year at the University of Tokyo, another problem arose involving its employees, including a professor at the university’s Graduate School of Medicine, who were conducting joint research with a cosmetics-related organization. The employees were allegedly entertained lavishly at restaurants and adult-entertainment establishments by the organization, but they unilaterally terminated a contract with the organization for the joint research.

There is a serious lack of morals among university employees and of proper governance of the university. This could undermine public trust in national universities, which are expected to carry out advanced medical care, provide education and conduct research.

Since national universities were incorporated in fiscal 2004, government subsidies for their operation have decreased by over 13%. Price increases and soaring personnel costs in recent years have made university management increasingly difficult.

Consequently, universities are forced to raise funds on their own and are focused on soliciting donations. In fiscal 2024, the University of Tokyo received ¥24.7 billion in donations, including in-kind contributions, with the hospital accounting for a little over ¥1.6 billion of that.

Corruption scandals involving donations have occurred in the past. Collusive relationships between doctors and companies risk distorting research and medical care to favor those companies, potentially disadvantaging patients.

It is understandable that struggling national universities need to collect donations. However, universities must strictly check whether those donations are being used as bribes and that they are being put to proper use. It is also crucial that universities thoroughly instill a sense of ethics in their employees and others.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Dec. 5, 2025)