Siemens scandal

[2] Japanese newspapers, notably the Asahi Shimbun,[3] immediately reported the details of the corruption scandal, and the issue was raised in the Diet by members of the Rikken Doshikai political party.

Another newspaper, Japan Weekly Chronicle, reported that an Admiral Fuji (Fujii Terugoro) of the navy procurement office had confessed to receiving payments from Vickers of a total 210,000 yen in 1911 and 1912 on various occasions.

The head of the Siemens subsidiary in Japan, Hermann Kessler faced a public accusation in the German Reichstag by Karl Liebknecht, but was not charged.

The navy, backed by the Prime Minister Yamamoto, had earlier demanded a huge increase of 70 million yen for its budget, but this was so large that it would reduce the scope for a business tax reduction that had previously been expected and lobbied for.

While Takashi expected his Rikken Seiyūkai politicial party to fill the resulting power vacuum, Ōkuma Shigenobu became the new prime minister instead.