Former class-one architect Hidetsugu Aneha

The eight are the first to be arrested in the scandal, which sent shock waves nationwide after scores of buildings were found to lack adequate structural integrity and were forced to close, and residents of many had to vacate but still pay their housing loans.

At the center is Aneha, 48, who has admitted designing dozens of buildings to substandard quake-resistance levels due to cost-cutting pressure from clients.

The data fabrications left numerous housing complexes and hotels at risk of collapsing in earthquakes with an intensity of only upper 5 on the Japanese intensity scale to 7.

The others arrested are:

* Moriyoshi Kimura, 74, president of Kimura Construction, an Aneha client;

* Akira Shinozuka, 45, a former head of Kimura Construction's Tokyo office;

* Mitsuo Morishita, 51, a Kimura executive;

* Masahiro Hashimoto, 48, a Kimura executive;

* Mikio Akiba, 46, an architectural designer;

* Togo Fujita, 44, president of eHomes building inspection agency;

* Mitsuji Kishimoto, 66, an eHomes Inc. executive.

The charges Aneha and the others face are not directly linked to the data fabrication scandal, but sources said police hope their investigation will help build criminal cases that can be linked to the eight and others.

Reacting to the arrests, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said the government will seek early passage of bills to revise the Building Standards Law and three other laws, including a provision to raise the maximum penalty for those who put up shoddy buildings.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 6, 2006
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