This time, the company responsible for selling the Olympic and Paralympic mascots - Miraitowa and Someity - have been accused of paying several million yen to a former Organising Committee executive.

According to a report on Kyodo News, the latest revelation came when prosecutors were probing Haruyuki Takahashi and whether he had lobbied the Organising Committee do favours for Sun Arrow Inc. - the company responsible for selling the stuffed toys.

The company also distributed mascots during the Nagano 1998 Winter Olympics.

They are also popular for selling stuffed toys depicting characters from Studio Ghibli's My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service.

Last week, former Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) President Tsunekazu Takeda was also questioned by prosecutors in connection with the series of bribery allegations.

Takeda was asked to explain how Takahashi became an executive of the Organising Committee, according to Kyodo News.

Takeda stood down as JOC President and the vice-president of the Organising Committee in June 2019, after accusations of bribery related to Tokyo's successful bid for the Olympic Games.

Earlier this month, Takahashi was indicted for receiving bribes totalling ¥51 million (£312,000/$356,000/€356,000) from business retailer Aoki Holdings.

Another arrest warrant was served after Takahashi was accused of accepting bribes of ¥76 million (£465,000/$531,000/€530,000) from publisher Kadokawa Corp.

The former senior managing director of Japan's largest advertising agency Dentsu Inc. is also accused to have helped ADK Holdings Inc. and Daiko Advertising Inc. during the sponsor selection process of Tokyo 2020.