福井県幹部も受領＝高浜町元助役から１０万円商品券も－福祉担当者ら就任時に

　関西電力の役員らが福井県高浜町の森山栄治元助役（故人）から多額の金品を受け取っていた問題で、県幹部も森山氏から長年にわたり商品券などを受領していたことが３日、関係者への取材で分かった。森山氏は審議会の委員を務めるなど県の施策に大きな影響力を持っていたという。
　関係者によると、商品券などの贈答品を受け取っていたのは福祉行政を担当する部署の部長や、高浜町など県南部を管轄する地域振興局の局長ら。
　幹部らは就任あいさつなどで京都市内にある森山氏の自宅を訪れた際に受領していた。１０万円相当の商品券を贈られたケースもあったという。
　就任あいさつのほか、盆暮れに出向くことが慣例化しており、贈答品の受け取りを拒むと激高されるため、幹部らは複数回に分けて相当額の土産で返したという。森山氏は県職員から「先生」と呼ばれていた。（2019/10/03-10:56）

A late municipal official who was found to have distributed massive amounts of money and goods to Kansai Electric Power Co. executives also gave gifts to senior officials of the prefectural government of Fukui, central Japan, over a long period, it was learned Thursday.
   Among people who received gift certificates and other items from Eiji Moriyama, former deputy mayor of the town of Takahama in Fukui, were those who served as head of the prefectural government's welfare policy bureau and as chief of the local promotion division covering municipalities in the southern part of Fukui, including Takahama, informed sources said.
   They received the gifts when they visited Moriyama's house in the western city of Kyoto, for such reasons as reporting their appointments to new posts, the sources said. There was a case in which gift certificates worth 100,000 yen were handed over.
   Moriyama, who served as a member of a Fukui government council between fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2017, had major influence over policies of the prefecture, according to the sources. He also served as a visiting researcher advising the prefecture on policy matters for a long time. Moriyama, who was Takahama deputy mayor between 1977 and 1987, died in March this year.
   It had become customary for prefectural officials to visit Moriyama during the "bon" holiday period in mid-August and at year-end. Officials who received goods from Moriyama gave him over several occasions return gifts of roughly the same value as what was given to them, the sources said.