Finally Arrested! Rurei Miura and Her Husband Were Causing Big Troubles!

On March 7, the Special Investigation Department of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office arrested Kiyoshi Miura, the husband of Rurei Miura, an international political scientist, on suspicion of embezzlement in the course of business. The amount of money Kiyoshi is alleged to have embezzled amounts to 420 million yen. In February, FRIDAY Digital reported in detail on “two troubles” involving Kiyoshi and Rurei. The contents of that report are reproduced below.

When Mr. Kiyoshi Miura heard the news, he was furious.

“Basically, you can just ignore it,” he said. But if they say something again, I explain that they are employees or billboards. If they still say something, I will fight them all the way.

Was this anger fueled by the fact that the life he and his wife, Rurei, an international political scientist, had built together had been trampled on by the investigative authorities?

In January, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office raided the Nagatacho, Tokyo office of TRIBAY CAPITAL (“TRIBAY”), Seiji’s investment company involved in the solar power generation business. In response to this raid, Mr. Rurei was absent from a series of TV programs on which he regularly appeared, and his past comments at a government panel of experts, in which he encouraged the solar power generation business, were also called into question, drawing attention to the two men’s activities. Howeverーー.

Mr. Miura (Kiyoshi) was angry like that as recently as three years ago. On that day, the management company of the building where his office is located warned him that ‘bringing in or keeping living creatures in the building is prohibited. He and Rurei’s two cats were like family, and they brought them to the office every day, so he was rebuffed by the company for that,” (Kiyoshi’s neighbor).

Therefore, Mr. Kiyoshi’s words at the beginning of this article are not directly related to the current investigation, but it is an episode that gives us a glimpse of the human nature of the person in the middle of the investigation. To add to Mr. Kiyoshi’s argument, his cats are not animals, but rather “employees” and billboards for him, so the pet ban rule does not apply to them. By billboard, he probably means that they are symbols of the Wildcat Research Institute (“Wildcat”), a think tank headed by Rurei and located at the same address as the Tribay office.

It is an astonishing logic, but in fact, this way of thinking can be seen in Rurei’s words and actions. This is evident in the series of troubles surrounding this office, which is occupied by the Miuras’ companies.

The Miuras are vicious in that they have been notified that they are in violation of the rules, yet to date they have made no move to change their policy of keeping pets in the office. According to the source, they were warned by the management company not to bring pets into the office several times until the fall of 2007, about six months after they moved into the office. In addition, maintenance contractors periodically entered the Tri-Bay office to inspect the condition of the air conditioning, and each time the Miuras hid their cats in Ruri’s private office space and other areas.

Mr. Kiyoshi then made the following comment.

The management company would have been annoyed if the tenants had to leave such an inconvenient office. I’m going to have Rurei take lots of pictures of Leo (the cat’s name) and the other tenants so that the management company will have nothing to complain about.

Perhaps taking into account Seiji’s intentions, Rurei’s SNS is filled with posts of his beloved cats, including the most recent one, taken at what appears to be his office. Furthermore, in an article that appeared in the Yomiuri Shimbun from February to March of last year, Rurei stated, without any offence, that he keeps his cats in his office.

[Rirei] has two cats, a Bengal named “Leo” (male, 3 years old) and a Ragdoll named “Gina” (female, 1 year old). We commute to work together from home every day and let them spend their free time at work.” (February 14, 2010, evening edition)

When we spoke to the management company, they confirmed that “according to the building rules, we do not allow people to bring in or keep animals in this office building ” (Public Relations Office ). On the other hand, there is no indication that Tribay or Wildcat, which have been violating the rules, have been penalized in any way. It seems that Mr. Seiji’s “making it an established fact” is working.

The Miuras are still in trouble over the use of their office. The proof is the photo shown above. According to a source close to Rurei, this German BMW luxury SUV is shared by Rurei and Mr. Kiyoshi. It can be seen that a card indicating that parking is prohibited is tucked into the windshield of that SUV.

“Rurei and his staff come to work and park the car in the common space at the front of the building where the office is located, and often do not move it throughout the day. Since it is a shared space, they are free to park there, but if they do so all day long, trucks and other vehicles that have come to bring in goods are unable to use the space. Therefore, the management company often asked us to use the space within the bounds of decency,” said a source close to Rurei.

Sometimes the management company would place a card as shown in the photo, and other times a representative would visit the office in person, which has happened more than 10 times so far. Despite this, Rurei has sometimes said the following.

The management company is the one who makes these requests, not the police, so it’s okay to ignore them.

The popular commentator, who has also been brought on board by the government’s expert panel, is not concerned about moral hazard.

When we sent a letter of inquiry to the Miuras’ respective companies regarding the pets kept in their offices, the use of common space, and the truthfulness of their statements, Tribay replied, “We don’t know because the person in charge has gone home. Wildcat stated that it could not answer the question.”

In sending the letter of inquiry, we called the different representative numbers of each company, but the person who answered was the same female employee.

Interview and text by Naoyuki Miyashita, nonfiction writer
naoyukimiyashita@pm.me