Takahashi had allegedly received ¥51 million yen ($380,000, £314,480, €374,051) from retailer Aoki Holdings, an official partner of last year’s delayed Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Along with the 78-year-old, Hironori Aoki, a former chairman of Aoki Holdings and a former senior managing director of Japan’s largest advertising agency Dentsu INC. were also arrested.

According to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, Takahashi took bribes on more than 50 occasions between October 2017 and March this year to help Aoki Holdings getting selected as one of the sponsors.

A company headed by Takahashi finalised a deal with Aoki and the following year, the Olympic sponsorship was confirmed for the latter’s company.

According to a source, the consulting firm headed by Takahashi signed the deal with Aoki worth ¥1 million (£6,200/$7,500/€7,300) per month in September 2017.

In October 2018, Aoki announced it had secured an "official supporter" contract with Tokyo 2020, allowing them to use Games’ emblems for business purposes.

Earlier this month, majority of the Japanese sponsors of the Tokyo 2020 said they did not have a relationship with Takahashi with Japanese press agency Kyodo News reporting that 64 of the 69 companies that responded to their request said they did not sign a contract with the 78-year-old’s consulting firm in September 2017.

"I feel very disappointed," Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike was quoted as saying by Kyodo News, following the arrest.