Joichi Ito, linked with Epstein, to leave Japan government panel, Sankei says

TOKYO, March 2 (Reuters) - Japan will not reappoint businessman Joichi Ito to a government committee on an entrepreneurship project when his term ends this month, over ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Sankei newspaper said on Monday.

The decision comes after the release of millions of new Epstein documents by the U.S. Justice Department that revived scrutiny of Ito's ties with Epstein and his current roles in Japanese government and academic circles.

Ito will not be reappointed to the committee after his term ends this month, the paper said, citing an unidentified source.

Government officials in charge of the committee were not immediately available to comment when contacted by telephone.

Ito could not be immediately reached for comment.

Ito, who has denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein, resigned in 2019 from the role of director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab over an Epstein-linked funding scandal.

Last week, the New York Times said Ito's involvement in Japan's 64-billion-yen ($407-million) entrepreneurship programme led some U.S. and Japanese universities to distance themselves from it.

The programme, known as the "Global Startup Campus Initiative", aims to build a tech innovation hub in Tokyo in partnership with top universities. It had hired Ito since 2024 as an executive adviser, and later, a steering committee member.

In a statement on Saturday, the Chiba Institute of Technology, where Ito has served as president since 2023, "reaffirmed that he had no knowledge of any illegal or improper activities".

The private university near Tokyo added that its "trust in President Ito remains unwavering".

On Friday, Digital Garage Inc 4819.T, the Japanese fintech company Ito co-founded in the 1990s, said he would retire as executive officer by the end of March and as a board director at its June shareholder meeting.

($1=156.2900 yen)