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A plant company with close capital and personnel ties to NIPPO Corporation supplied asphalt mixture used for asphalt paving work on the 2022 Road 54 Kamihuno pavement repair project ordered by the Sangi River National Highway Office to the project contractor. The contract documents (special specifications, design drawings, etc.) specified the use of asphalt mixture with new aggregate (new asphalt mixture), and the contractor also designated this type to the plant company. The plant company reported that the asphalt mixture delivered for the project met the specifications specified in the design documents. However, an investigation by NIPPO revealed that the asphalt mixture delivered had different specifications from those in the design documents.

The operator conducted asphalt paving works ordered by the Tohoku Regional Development Bureau, Kanto Regional Development Bureau, Hokuriku Regional Development Bureau, Chubu Regional Development Bureau, Kinki Regional Development Bureau, Chugoku Regional Development Bureau, and Tokyo Aeronautical Bureau, using asphalt mixtures that contained recycled aggregate instead of the specified new aggregate asphalt mixture as per the contractual documents (special specifications, design drawings, etc.). Investigations by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism revealed that the operator used recycled aggregate asphalt mixtures without prior consultation with the client, and that the affiliated plant shipped recycled aggregate asphalt mixtures labeled as new asphalt mixtures on shipping slips. The operator's affiliated plant received management performance reports from the plant company and recognized the possibility that the shipped asphalt mixtures, which should have been new asphalt mixtures, contained recycled aggregate. However, the operator failed to take appropriate measures to prevent this, thereby not fulfilling its duty to avoid such issues. Furthermore, the affiliated plant supplied asphalt mixtures to multiple projects ordered by the same regional bureaus and the Tokyo Aeronautical Bureau, despite contractual requirements and instructions from the clients to use only new asphalt mixtures. Investigations confirmed that these asphalt mixtures, although labeled as new, contained recycled aggregate and were shipped as such. The operator's affiliated plant has close capital and personnel relationships with the operator, and despite being aware of the potential inclusion of recycled materials, failed to implement proper management actions to ensure compliance.