Japanese media reports Bidzina Ivanishvili’s son purchased luxury apartment in Tokyo amid sanctions concerns

Japanese publication Weekly Bunshun Online Edition has published an article titled “Eldest Son of Pro-Putin Dictator Spotted in Tokyo!” detailing the activities of Uta Ivanishvili, son of Georgian billionaire and founder of the ruling party in Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili. According to the report, just before the imposition of sanctions, Uta Ivanishvili bought a luxury apartment in central Tokyo for 500 million yen (approximately $3.5 million).

The article, translated into Georgian by Studio Monitor, refers to Bidzina Ivanishvili as a dictator who has strengthened ties with Russia, led Georgia into a political crisis, and became a target of economic sanctions. It questions why his eldest son resides in Japan despite these issues.

Weekly Bunshun claims that Uta Ivanishvili leads a lavish life in Japan but generally travels by foot or train, suggesting a low-profile lifestyle despite his wealth. The report states that Uta purchased a 115-square-meter apartment in an elite complex on June 27 of last year, without taking out a mortgage.

An expert quoted in the article suggests that the transaction, occurring amid political unrest in Georgia and preceding US sanctions in December, could be seen as an attempt to evade sanctions.

In a conversation with a Bunshun journalist, Uta Ivanishvili said he has been living in Japan for two and a half years and works as a video game designer. He denied involvement in the creation of ATU and neither confirmed nor denied owning property in Tokyo.

The publication also reported a one-hour meeting between Uta Ivanishvili and Georgia’s Ambassador to Japan, Teimuraz Lezhava, at a Tokyo restaurant, where Lezhava allegedly handed Ivanishvili a bag during their Georgian-language conversation.

Reacting to the article on X, Ambassador Lezhava posted a photo of himself covering his face with a Bunshun magazine, humorously captioned, “I thought it was the first breeze of spring, but it turned out to be Bunshun’s bullet.”