Editing 1976 Lockheed Bribery Scandal (section)

===Japan===  
Bribes: Lockheed paid $12.6 million (equivalent to $70 million in 2025) to secure a $430 million contract for 21 L-1011 TriStars with All Nippon Airways (ANA) in 1972. Payments included $3 million to Prime Minister [[Kakuei Tanaka]], $1.7 million to anti-communist fixer [[Yoshio Kodama]] , and millions to ANA executives and government officials, per Senate testimony.

Fallout: Tanaka was arrested in July 1976, charged with violating foreign exchange laws, and convicted in 1983, receiving a four-year sentence (overturned on appeal after his 1987 death). The scandal toppled his government, damaged the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and led to Japan’s first post-war political crisis, per The Japan Times. Kodama, a former fascist entangled in the [[World Anti-Communist League]], the CIA, and [[Unification Church]] was a war criminal with ties to the Yakuza that escaped post WW2 prosecution courtesy of [[General Douglas MacArthur]], was indicted but died in 1984 before trial.

Significance: The scandal exposed Japan’s political corruption, with Lockheed’s bribes facilitating U.S. strategic interests in Asia, including basing rights during the Vietnam War.