Photo/Illutration Ito Mayor Maki Takubo on Sept. 1 at the Ito city assembly in Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture (Shinya Minamishima)

ITO, Shizuoka Prefecture—The city assembly here unanimously approved a no-confidence motion against embattled Mayor Maki Takubo on Sept. 1, following the release of findings that she falsified her academic credentials.

The assembly also voted to file a criminal complaint against the mayor for obstructing their investigation, intensifying a political crisis that now forces Takubo to decide within 10 days whether to resign or dissolve the assembly.

After the assembly passed the no-confidence motion, Takubo said of her plans, “At this point, I have nothing to say. I will take time to consider the matter.” 

The assembly took the action on the opening day of the September regular city assembly session, right after its special investigative committee concluded that the mayor had deliberately misrepresented her educational background.

The special investigative committee presented a detailed report outlining the facts it uncovered over eight committee hearings and explaining its basis for determining that Takubo had intentionally lied.

The assembly then voted to file criminal charges against the mayor for four alleged violations of the Local Autonomy Law: refusing to appear before the special investigative committee; refusing to submit records; refusing to testify; and giving false testimony.

The complaint has already been submitted to the prefectural police’s Ito Police Station and accepted.

Takubo is already under criminal investigation after residents filed a complaint with the police accusing her of making false statements under the Public Offices Election Law.

The complaint centers on her election-related biography form submitted to media outlets, in which she claimed to have graduated from Toyo University.

Police have started interviewing related parties.

The confrontation between the mayor and the assembly will likely cause the investigation to intensify.

The no-confidence resolution cited several reasons being passed, including the strong suspicion that (the mayor) violated the Local Autonomy Law and other statutes; the controversy has caused delays in formulating supplementary budgets, which negatively impact citizens’ lives; the mayor has failed to take accountability, and instead responded by making slanderous attacks on the assembly in social media; and the mayor’s actions have distorted facts and stoked public anxiety.

The resolution further declared that Takubo holding the mayor’s office “is an extremely dangerous situation given the power it entails.”

It also said that the mayor has become “a national symbol of a negative reputation” and that as long as Takubo remains in office, she will “continue to cast a dark shadow over Ito’s key tourism industry and the daily lives of its citizens.”

Therefore, it demanded her immediate resignation.

Takubo, who was first elected in May, had described herself as a “graduate of Toyo University” on her biography form and in the city’s public relations magazine.

The controversy erupted after an anonymous letter was sent to every assembly member in early June accusing Takubo of falsifying her academic record.

Subsequently, Takubo announced that it had been discovered she had been expelled from the university.

She initially expressed her intention to resign and run in the mayoral election as an independent candidate. However, she later withdrew that pledge and declared she would continue in office, leaving the city administration in disarray.

Takubo has maintained that she only learned of her expulsion on June 28, denying that she deliberately lied about her educational background. 

However, the investigative committee, after verifying university records and witness testimonies, thoroughly rejected her claims.

It concluded, “(the mayor’s) claim that she had been mistaken was untenable,” and determined the claim to be false.

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