Kawasaki City Official Arrested on Suspicion of Leaking Bid Price

2026.11.04. The Fair Economy — A senior official of the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan, was arrested by police on suspicion of leaking the non-public price for a painting and waterproofing construction project the city had ordered in 2024 to an industry insider during the bidding process. The person arrested is Sekiguchi Takao, deputy director of the city's Urban Development Bureau. Police also searched the office of the Kawasaki Painting Industry Association.

Several Japanese media outlets, including NTV News and The Asahi Shimbun, reported on November 4 that Kanagawa Prefectural Police had arrested Deputy Director Sekiguchi.

According to these reports, police applied charges including a violation of the Anti-Official Collusion Law. The suspect is accused of leaking information to a local industry group before bids were opened for painting and waterproofing work on public facilities. At the time, he served as the head of the Facility Maintenance Division, which was in charge of construction at city-owned facilities. The leaked information was the estimated price, a bid price that is not made public.

Police searched the association's office in Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, on the morning of November 4. They plan to continue investigating whether similar misconduct occurred in other construction projects.

The formal name of the bid-rigging prevention law is the "Act on Elimination and Prevention of Involvement in Bid Rigging and Other Such Acts, and Punishment of Acts by Employees That Harm the Fairness of Bidding and Other Such Processes." It was enacted in 2002 to prevent employees of ordering agencies from becoming involved in bid rigging, and a 2006 amendment added provisions to punish individual employees.

Official acts involving bid collusion defined by the law include acts that induce collusion, acts that pre-designate a contract counterparty, acts that disclose confidential information regarding bidding and contracts, and acts that assist collusion. If an official uses their position to disclose bid secrets, such as the estimated price, to a business operator against their duties, they can be punished with up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 2.5 million yen (about $16,400), even if bid collusion is not established.

Article 96-6 of the Penal Code punishes acts that harm the fairness of public competitive bidding. A person who harms the fairness of public bidding through deception or intimidation faces up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 2.5 million yen (about $17,000). The same penalty applies to a person who colludes with the aim of harming a fair price or obtaining unlawful profit.

The Act on the Promotion of Proper Bidding and Contracting for Public Works, enacted in 2000, mandates that ordering agencies publish information about the bidding and contracting process. Because it is pointed out that publishing the estimated price before bidding makes it easier for companies to coordinate prices, many local governments publish it after bids are opened. In such cases, the estimated price is non-public information until before bidding, so a leak becomes an issue that harms the fairness of the bid.

If official involvement in bid rigging is confirmed, the Japan Fair Trade Commission can require the ordering agency to take corrective measures. The ordering agency must then investigate whether the employee involved should face disciplinary action and consider seeking damages.