PRESS CONFERENCE
Lockheed Scandal Insider Speaks Out
Bruce Aitken, the bagman in the Lockheed bribery scandal
14:00-15:00 Friday, July 10, 2026
Language: The speech and Q & A will be in English.
While Japan has its share of political scandals, the Lockheed bribery affair has stood out. The disclosure of cash payments on behalf of the U.S. aircraft maker helped topple a powerful prime minister and define an era much as Watergate did in the United States. A half-century later, a participant in the bribery operation will come to the Club to give us an insider's view of how it went down -- and answer some unresolved questions.
The scandal began in the United States, where a Senate subcommittee exposed in February 1976 that Lockheed Aircraft had funneled over three billion yen in secret funds to Japan. The money went into bribes to sell L-1011 TriStar passenger jets to All Nippon Airways; Marubeni Corp., Lockheed's agent, hid the payments with receipts using the code name "Peanuts." Four months after the disclosure, Tokyo prosecutors arrested former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka.
One of the unanswered questions has been when and how Lockheed's funds were channeled into Japan. Bruce Aitken knows the answer. In the early 1970s, Aitken joined Deak & Co., an American foreign-exchange trader founded by a former U.S. agent. Aitken repeatedly entered Japan with a golf bag stuffed with cash, which was then passed through a foreign priest to executives and government officials.
How did a man who dreamed in college of becoming a professional baseball player wind up as the bagman in a transnational bribery operation? What was the real story behind Deak & Co., founded by a former agent of a wartime U.S. intelligence agency? How did it smuggle cash into Japan using tricks out of a spy novel?
Fifty years later, the bagman will speak. Please join us to hear Aitken tell us first-hand how this secret operation went down.
How to attend:
Please register by emailing front@fccj.or.jp with your name and the name of your media outlet. FCCJ members should also include their membership number. Doors will open 15 minutes before the event.
How to watch online: https://www.youtube.com/c/FCCJchannel/live
How to ask questions: https://forms.gle/jokLpb4vHgw5a7eF8
TV crew: Please make a reservation at front@fccj.or.jp. Doors open for TV crews only at 30 minutes before the event. FCCJ will limit live-streaming of FCCJ-hosted press conferences to Club members only. Non-members will no longer be permitted to live-stream these events. However, non-members may still film for reporting purposes and use footage after the press conference.
Professional Activities Committee