Photo/Illutration The Ito municipal assembly on July 7 unanimously passes a resolution recommending that Mayor Maki Takubo resign. (Shinya Minamishima)

ITO, Shizuoka Prefecture—Less than two months after being elected, Ito Mayor Maki Takubo has been asked to resign for claiming to have graduated from Toyo University in Tokyo—when she had actually been expelled.

The Ito municipal assembly on July 7 unanimously passed two resolutions: one recommending that Takubo step down, the other calling for establishing a special investigative committee to look into the allegations that she falsified information about her background intentionally.

Prior to the vote, an assembly member said that Takubo had ridiculed the citizens of Ito with her actions. No assembly member spoke against the two resolutions.

After the assembly session, Takubo met with reporters and said she would hold a news conference that evening to announce her plans.

Takubo was elected mayor on May 25, unseating the incumbent candidate.

While the resolution calling on Takubo to resign is not binding, the special investigative committee is expected to look into the city newsletter issued in July in which Takubo is described as a Toyo graduate.

Takubo later explained that she had mistakenly believed that she received her degree.

Municipal assembly members will investigate whether Takubo intentionally falsified her academic credentials.

Meanwhile, Ito residents are also planning to submit a criminal complaint alleging that Takubo violated the Public Offices Election Law by submitting a document that contained false information about her background to media organizations before the election.

At a July 2 news conference, Takubo said she had been expelled from Toyo, but also claimed she did not violate the Public Offices Election Law.

Municipal assembly members criticized her response as being irresponsible and only trying to save her position.

Soon after the mayoral election, anonymous letters were sent to all 19 municipal assembly members raising doubts about Takubo’s educational background.

At the June 25 assembly plenary session, one member who obtained a copy of the graduation yearbook for Toyo said Takubo’s name could not be found in it.

However, Takubo did not reveal that she had not actually graduated until the news conference a week later.

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