“Would you like to help me with the election?”
This was about a month before the April election for mayor of Tokyo’s Koto Ward, in which Yayoi Kimura (58) was elected for the first time. An LDP ward assembly member recalled that the secretary of locally elected member of the House of Representatives, Mito Kakizawa (52), came to his office and asked him to support the ward assembly election, which was held on the same day as the ward mayor’s election.
◆200,000 yen in an envelope I left with the message “use it”
Since he was estranged from Mr. Kakizawa, he declined, but the secretary left an envelope on the table and said, “Please make use of it.” The contents were 200,000 yen in cash. It could be said that it was a “visiting visit during the camp”, but for some reason he returned it at a later date. “I felt bad receiving this even though there was also an election for ward mayor.I was aware that Mr. Kakizawa was supporting Mr. Kimura.”
Takaaki Yamazaki, who was aiming for the fifth term in the ward mayor’s election, suddenly passed away just before the announcement was made, and his eldest son, Ikki (51), who was endorsed by the Liberal Democratic Party, suddenly ran for office. The election campaign with Kimura, a former Liberal Democratic Party member of the House of Representatives, took on the appearance of a “liberal democratic party split”.
A business card handed out to a reporter by an executive from Kimura’s camp who served as moderator at Kimura’s press conference regarding paid advertising. The titles of Kimura and Kakizawa’s supporter’s association are lined up (partially image processed)
Mr. Kakizawa, who was elected in the last House of Representatives election on the Liberal Democratic Party’s recommendation, did not move to support Mr. Yamazaki. Meanwhile, his secretary contacted LDP district councilors and offered them cash. Interviews revealed that at least five people received 200,000 yen, two of whom later returned it.
Mr. Kakizawa denied any illegality, saying that the cash was just a “congratulations to the team.” The document for supporters explains this as follows: “There is no way they would commit such an overtly anti-party act as to hand out cash to a party ward councilor for the purpose of requesting them to compile votes to elect an opponent of the party’s recommended ward mayor candidate.”
◆Many scenes that make it hard to believe Mr. Kakizawa’s “telling”
Several LDP district councilors do not believe the claims that denied “anti-party acts”. This was because he had seen staff jumpers from the Kimura camp loaded into a car driven by Mr. Kakizawa’s secretary, and Mr. Kakizawa’s staff had seen posters of Mr. Kimura put up.
Kimura announced his candidacy in January of this year. According to people involved, Mr. Kakizawa encouraged Mr. Kimura to run last fall and introduced him to the chairman of the supporters. He also went around greeting the town chairman.
Since February, Mr. Kakizawa’s secretaries have been meeting with non-Liberal Democratic Party councilors who support Mr. Kimura at high-end Chinese restaurants in the ward. One ward councilor explained in an interview, “We discussed Mr. Kimura’s election strategy,” but declined to say “I can’t talk about who paid for the food and drinks.” Another ward councilor revealed, “I’ve even been given gifts.”
On May 1st, Mito Kakizawa posted on X (formerly Twitter) that she met Koto Ward Mayor Yayoi Kimura, who was taking office for the first time, in the mayor’s office and congratulated her on her appointment.
Support for Mr. Kimura progressed as if to sneak in a hint of Kakizawa. The posters and sashes included Mr. Kimura’s image color of blue, and Mr. Kakizawa’s orange, and he also instructed the text to be included in the banners. He also suggested placing advertisements on the Internet and is suspected of paying compensation to some of the Kimura campaign’s vehicle campaigners and drivers.
Kimura won by over 13,700 votes over Kazuki Yamazaki. In July, Mr. Kakizawa assumed the position of constituency branch chief, a position he had not held for more than a year since the last House of Representatives election. One ward councilor said, “It’s extremely tough.”
◆Mr. Kimura, who advocated “clean ward administration,” resigned without speaking.
In Koto Ward, scandals continue, with a locally elected member of the House of Representatives and a former ward assembly chairperson being arrested over involvement in the ward’s bid for an integrated resort facility (IR) project, including a casino. For that reason, expectations were high for Mr. Kimura, who advocated a clean administration of the ward by “eliminating collusion and friendly relations.”
However, in July, this newspaper reported that Kimura’s side had been posting paid advertisements online, which is prohibited under the Public Elections Act. When the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s Special Investigation Department launched a raid, Kimura was forced to resign after just six months. The focus of the investigation was also on Mr. Kakizawa himself.
A ward councilor sighs. “Mr. Kimura resigned without even mentioning Mr. Kakizawa’s ‘ka’ character. He is dishonest to the residents of the ward.”
Koto Ward mayoral election incidentThere are three charges of violation of the Public Elections Act that the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office Special Investigation Department is investigating. (1) The elected candidate Yayoi Kimura’s side posted paid Internet advertisements on YouTube during the ward mayor election period. It was proposed by Miyo Kakizawa, a member of the House of Representatives who supported it. (2) Mr. Kakizawa’s side provided cash and approached ward councilors. There is a suspicion that Mr. Kimura was bribed to collect votes for Mr. Kimura, but Mr. Kakizawa’s side denies any illegality, saying it was a “visit to the camp” for the ward assembly election that was being held at the same time. (3) Mr. Kakizawa’s side is suspected of paying illegal compensation totaling approximately 910,000 yen to 13 people, including staff of Mr. Kimura’s campaign.
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Suspicions of violations of the Public Elections Act surfaced in April’s Koto Ward mayoral election, and Kimura was investigated by the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s Special Investigation Department, leading to his resignation after just six months. Mr. Kakizawa and his secretaries were the ones who were encroaching on the chaotic election. Explore the undercurrent of the incident. (This series will be written by Masanori Inoue and Gaku Nakayama)
2023-12-16 21:00:00
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