EXCLUSIVE: Probes Conducted over Alleged Hokkaido Shinkansen Bid-Rigging

Tokyo, May 19 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Fair Trade Commission on Tuesday conducted on-site inspections over alleged bid-rigging for a project to lay tracks for a planned extension of the Hokkaido Shinkansen bullet train line, Jiji Press learned. The probes targeted nine construction companies and the government-linked Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency, or JRTT, which placed the order for the project, according to informed sources. Among the nine firms are Meiko Construction Co., Union Construction Co., which is a group company of East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, Daitetsu Kogyo Co. and Kosei Corp., which are both affiliated with West Japan Railway Co., or JR West, and Sankikensetsu Inc., an affiliate of Kyushu Railway Co., or JR Kyushu. The companies are suspected of conspiring in advance to pick firms undertaking track-laying work for the bullet train line extension between Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto and Sapporo stations in Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, the sources said. The 212-kilometer section is divided into 10 parts, and the preselected companies won the bids for five of the sections, including one secured by Meiko for 4.34 billion yen in October last year. The nine companies have reached an agreement over who would win the bids for the other five parts, according to the sources. If the FTC finds any JRTT involvement in the alleged bid-rigging, it may consider demanding that the agency take improvement measures based on the law against bid-rigging led by public-sector organizations. The Hokkaido Shinkansen Line went into service between Shin-Aomori Station in Aomori Prefecture, located in the northernmost part of Japan’s Honshu main island, and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station on March 26, 2016. In March 2025, the transport ministry released a report from an expert panel saying that the extended section of the Shinkansen line is expected to open at the end of March 2039. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]