Telegram says Nakasone sought cover-up by U.S.

Former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone sought a U.S. cover-up of Lockheed Aircraft Corp.'s bribes to Japanese politicians, which evolved into one of the biggest scandals to hit Japan, a recently discovered document said.

The document is a copy of a telegram dated Feb. 20, 1976, and sent by then U.S. Ambassador to Japan James Hodgson to the State Department.

Kept at the Gerald Ford Presidential Library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and declassified in August 2008, the document was obtained by The Asahi Shimbun in cooperation with American University's Investigative Reporting Workshop.

The telegram, which quoted Nakasone, was delivered soon after allegations were raised in the U.S. Senate on Feb. 4, 1976, that Lockheed had paid Japanese officials and a right-wing fixer to win orders for its aircraft.

The telegram quotes Nakasone, then secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party, as saying, "I hope it (the U.S. government) will hush up (momikesu) the matter."

Nakasone's office declined to comment on the issue.

At that time, the names of politicians who had received cash were not disclosed. Both ruling and opposition parties demanded the government investigate the matter.

On Feb. 18, 1976, Prime Minister Takeo Miki decided to ask Washington to "provide all related documents, including names of the high-ranking officials."

According to the telegram, Nakasone contacted a U.S. Embassy source that evening to convey a message to Washington as the LDP secretary-general.

During that conversation, Nakasone described Miki's position to bring all facts to light as a "painful policy."

Nakasone said if the names were released, the Japanese political world would be "thrown into great turmoil."

"It would be best for the USG (U.S. government) to delay any revelations to the extent possible," the document quoted Nakasone as saying.

The following morning, Nakasone altered his request for the United States to "hush up the matter."

At that point, Nakasone said that his side had already obtained information that former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and an active Cabinet minister were involved in the bribery scandal.

"It was Miki's judgment that should these names be made public ... it would mean the collapse of his Cabinet, the complete defeat of the LDP at the polls, and a political situation which the LDP would be unable to manage, possibly leading to the breakdown of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty structure," the telegram quoted Nakasone as saying.

Two parts in the document are blotted out, and the name of the embassy source whom Nakasone contacted is unknown.

After Nakasone's requests, the U.S. side handed documents on the scandal to Japanese prosecutors on condition they would not be disclosed, in principle.

Three lawmakers, including Tanaka, and executives of trading company Marubeni Corp. and All Nippon Airways Co. were arrested.

Accused of accepting 500 million yen ($5.6 million under current exchange rates) from Lockheed while serving as prime minister, Tanaka was arrested in July 1976, and was found guilty of bribery.

He died on Dec. 16, 1993, while waiting for a Supreme Court ruling on his appeal.