Toshio Kagami

Oriental Land officials said the company has a contract with Chuo Kohatsu to clean its headquarters in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture.

Payments to the company reached roughly ¥100 million a year and about ¥2.2 billion over the past 20 years.

At the time the first contract began, Urayasu-based Chuo Kohatsu was run by an older brother of Saburo Shiga, 79, a senior figure in Zen Nippon Aikokusha Dantai Kaigi, a nationwide rightist group, sources said.

"We can't help it even if we are being suspected of links to a rightist organization. I apologize for causing a disturbance and inconvenience to the people involved," Oriental Land President Toshio Kagami said at a news conference.

Sources said Oriental Land has maintained a close relationship with rightists since about 1970 when it began developing Tokyo Disneyland in Urayasu.

The Matsubakai gang, to which Shiga was a top adviser, had a powerful influence in Urayasu, the sources said.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 28, 2005
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