was a member of the Diet of Japan from the Liberal Democratic PartyVilaró (1989), 1. until resigning his office on 24 January 1989Associated Press (Jan. 24, 1989), 5. following alleged involvement in the Recruit scandal, where Harada admitted Recruit had given him donations, in the form of seasonal summer gifts, for ten years.Schoenberger (1989), 8. While the donations were not illegal, they raised questions of political ethics which eventually led Harada to resign.Chira (1989). As a member of the Diet, Harada served as Director-General of the Economic Planning Agency, and earned the close trust of Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita.United Press International (1989), 3. He was the third minister to resign over the scandal. Harada had been appointed to direct the Economic Planning Agency only one month before his resignation.Associated Press (Jan. 26, 1989), 5,Hoshii (1993), 178. After party officials had already placed him as the chair of a committee in charge of investigating the Recruit stock scandal,Japan stock scandal (1989), 5. where he had concluded that nothing illegal had taken place.Hartcher (1989), 9. In 1992, Harada backed Keizō Obuchi as new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party.Hayes (2004), 110. replaced Harada as Minister of Economic Planning.
Scouting Harada served as a member of the National Board of Governors of the Boy Scouts of Nippon and President of the Scout Parliamentary Caucus. In 1989, Harada was awarded the 200th Bronze Wolf, the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting.出典： 日本連盟スカウティング誌（2008年3月号 In 1985 he also received the highest distinction of the Scout Association of Japan, the Golden Pheasant Award.
References
Bibliography
Dr. László Nagy, 250 Million Scouts, The World Scout Foundation and Dartnell Publishers, 1985, complete list through 1981
External links
17 Bronze Wolf Recipients from Japan
Full list of Japanese Bronze Wolf recipients Scout Association of Japan