A former land ministry official was handed a suspended two-year prison term July 3 by the Osaka District Court for receiving a bribe over bid rigging in public works projects linked to a national park in the village of Asuka, Nara Prefecture.

The court concluded Masahiko Takamatsu, 43, a former senior official at the Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry, accepted ¥1 million in bribes from a construction firm in return for leaking the target prices for public tender bids on two construction projects at the park in 2004 and 2005.