He and chairman Hirokazu Nakamura were forced to resign in December 1997, after four former company executives were jailed for making corporate payoffs to sōkaiya racketeers."Mitsubishi Motors chief intent on turnaround", Sayuri Daimon, The Japan Times, December 4, 1997"Mitsubishi chiefs quit over 'gangster pay-off' scandal", The Independent October 31, 1997 Mitsubishi Motors admitted to paying ¥23.5 million to the wife of a racketeer, ostensibly for the rental of a beach house, in a controversy which also engulfed Toshiba and Hitachi."Lemonade time at Mitsubishi", Ward's AutoWorld, December 1997"3 Mitsubishi Executives Arrested in Payoffs", The New York Times, October 24, 1997
