THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
May 13, 2024 at 18:39 JST
Police searched the office of political organization Tsubasa no To on May 13 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on suspicion of obstructing other candidates’ campaigning in a Diet by-election in Tokyo in April, investigative sources said.
Investigators suspect that Atsuhiko Kurokawa, 45, who heads Tsubasa no To, Ryosuke Nemoto, 29, its secretary-general, and a campaign worker disrupted campaigning by shouting over a loudspeaker during other candidates’ speeches and chasing their campaign vehicles in violation of the Public Offices Election Law.
Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department, which has received complaints of damage from many candidates’ offices, also searched Kurokawa’s home in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, and Nemoto’s home in the capital’s Nerima Ward, on May 13, investigative sources said.
Nine candidates ran in the Lower House by-election in the Tokyo No. 15 district on April 28, which was won by Natsumi Sakai of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan. Nemoto finished last.
On April 18, Tokyo police issued a warning to Tsubasa no To on suspicion of obstructing a speech by Hirotada Ototake in front of JR Kameido Station two days earlier by rambling on over a microphone and blowing a vehicle horn in violation of the Public Offices Election Law.
Tsubasa no To members were also seen engaged in similar acts during speeches by Sakai and other candidates.
The political organization also made a speech over a microphone at full volume outside the home of Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, whose regional political party Tokyo First no Kai (Tokyoites First) backed Ototake, an independent candidate.
Ototake was also supported by the Democratic Party for the People.
Tsubasa no To also filmed its own activities and distributed footage on social media.
On April 23, Kurokawa told The Asahi Shimbun that his organization was not sabotaging the campaigning. Nemoto said it was “asking questions” to other candidates’ campaigns.
Many candidates’ offices refrained from making street speeches or withheld announcing public appearances to avoid confrontations.
The campaigns of other candidates criticized Tsubasa no To’s activities as obstructing the campaigning.
Shun Otokita, chairman of the Policy Affairs Research Council of Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party), described them as “outrageous.”
Nippon Ishin drafted proposed revisions to the Public Offices Election Law to strengthen penalties against interference in elections.
(This article was compiled from reports by Tabito Fukutomi, Arata Mitsui and Soichi Tsuchidate.)
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Metropolitan Police Department investigators enter the office of Tsubasa no To in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward on May 13. (Hikaru Uchida)
