2023-10-31 12:48:29
On the 31st, Vice Minister of Justice Kakizawa Mizuho resigned following admitting that he had encouraged Mr. Kimura to do paid on the Internet regarding the violation of the Public Elections Act by the campaign of Mayor Yayoi Kimura of Tokyo’s Koto Ward. Although the two did not make their cooperative relationship public during the ward mayor’s election in April, interviews with people involved suggest that Mr. Kakizawa was fully supporting Mr. Kimura behind the scenes. (Masanori Inoue)
◆The first thing Mayor Kimura went to when he arrived at the office was
Mr. Kakizawa greets Mr. Kimura (right) with applause on his first appearance at the office on May 1st. From the official homepage of Yayoi Kimura, Koto Ward New Era Association.
The direct relationship between the two became public on May 1st, following the election. Mr. Kakizawa was seen heading straight for Mayor Kimura’s car when he arrived at the office for the first time.
Mr. Kakizawa, who was active as an opposition party, will run from Tokyo’s 15th Ward (Koto Ward) in the 2021 House of Representatives election. He was elected, defeating a candidate fielded by the Liberal Democratic Party, creating a deep rift with the local Liberal Democratic Party faction and former ward mayor Takaaki Yamazaki. However, he did not publicly support Mr. Kimura, who was in a fierce battle with the son of the former mayor and a former city council member in the ward mayor’s election.
However, an official from the Kimura camp’s campaign headquarters recalled, “I was supporting the election campaign at Mr. Kakizawa’s request.It’s not like I had any feelings for Mr. Kimura.”
Election-related materials submitted by Kimura’s camp, which this newspaper requested from the ward, reveal that a businessman with deep ties to the office, who served as secretary to Mr. I had arranged a car to use.
At Kimura’s press conference regarding paid in August, an executive from Kimura’s camp, who served as moderator, handed out a business card to the reporter. The titles of Kimura and Kakizawa’s supporter’s association are lined up (partially image processed)
◆“I do not support Kakizawa. This is the official position.”
On the night of April 22, the final day of the ward mayor’s election campaign, Mr. Kakizawa’s policy secretary conducted an interview with Mr. Kimura. Perhaps because he can’t publicly support him, he even tells a reporter at the scene, “I’m not rooting for Kakizawa. This is the official opinion.” Regarding the relationship between the two, the secretary reiterated, “The support group is just supporting them on their own.”
According to multiple local ward councilors, the former ward councilor, who held the title of executive of the Kimura and Kakizawa support groups, had been in and out of the ward mayor’s office since being elected.
A Liberal Democratic Party official who endorsed Mr. Kimura’s opponent in the ward mayor’s election said, “Mayor Kimura had no campaign know-how or his own unit, and it seemed like he was in a subordinate relationship with Mr. Kakizawa giving instructions to Mr. Kimura.”
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