<figure id="attachment_309061" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1024px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-309061"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="da9c6baa"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2023/04/2023030812482.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-309061" class="wp-caption-text">Takashi Tachibana (right) nominated Ayaka Otsu (left) to head the party, but internal strife broke out and &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
I&#8217;m not sure why it bothers me. &#8230;&#8230;
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The battle between Takashi Tachibana of the former NHK Party and Ayaka Otsu, the &#8220;provisional&#8221; leader of the Political Women&#8217;s 48 Party, has been going on for some time now.
It is often talked about on the Internet news, and while those who are not interested in it have little interest in it, many people may be watching it closely out of fear of what they may see.
Even in Nagata-cho, the debate has been widely criticized as a &#8220;sterile struggle,&#8221; &#8220;a debate that will have no impact on national politics,&#8221; and &#8220;a condensation of the dirty side of politics,&#8221; but it is impressive that everyone seems so happy to hear about it.
It all started when Garcie (later a suspect), who was first elected to the upper house last summer, was expelled from office. Taking responsibility for this, Tachibana handed over the position of party representative to Otsu, and the April 18 official gazette announced that the party&#8217;s representative had been replaced by Otsu from Tachibana on March 8.
Later, however, Mr. Tachibana demanded that he be given back his representation. The party&#8217;s operating expenses are partly financed by loans from supporters, and according to Tachibana&#8217;s explanation
 According to Tachibana&#8217;s explanation, &#8220;We were inundated with refunds because the party&#8217;s financiers felt that Otsu was inadequate as party leader.
He claimed that &#8220;the party was inundated with refunds because the person who financed the party (was) the leader of the party and was not reassured. He said that he himself would become the party leader without representation rights.
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Otsu&#8217;s side protested against the unilateral announcement. After denying that he would resign as party leader, he filed a provisional injunction with the Chiba District Court on April 9 to confirm the status of his right to represent the party. The issue that has been heating up again is the question, &#8220;Which of the two is the representative?&#8221; issue, and the first hearing was held at the Chiba District Court on April 27.
Mr. Tachibana and Mr. Saito witnessed the hearing, but Mr. Otsu&#8217;s side was represented by a proxy lawyer. On YouTube, Mr. Tachibana lamented Mr. Otsu&#8217;s absence.
 Mr. Tachibana lamented Mr. Otsu&#8217;s absence and said on YouTube, &#8220;If we wait quietly, a decision will probably be made by the middle of May.
Mr. Tachibana lamented Mr. Otsu&#8217;s absence.
 &#8220;It seems that only Mr. Otsu&#8217;s side has been offered a settlement.
Otsu&#8217;s side seems to be the only one who has received a settlement offer,&#8221; he said. On Twitter, Mr. Otsu wrote
 The court has not presented us with a settlement offer.
Otsu denied it.
 The general newspapers and TV stations are not interested. The general press and TV are interested, but the stance is basically not to touch it, because all the characters are too acrimonious and it doesn&#8217;t affect our lives one millimeter. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the courts must not really want to get involved either.
Earlier this month, Mr. Hotaka Maruyama, the party&#8217;s deputy leader, returned to Japan from overseas. &#8220;The savior we&#8217;ve been waiting for!&#8221; he said. He immediately stood by Mr. Tachibana&#8217;s side and called on Mr. Otsu to decide who would represent the party at the general meeting.
 Mr. Maruyama,&#8221; he said, &#8220;has been the subject of a lot of controversy during his time as a member of the Diet because of an ugly incident involving alcohol. I remembered that he was the No. 2 person in the NHK party (laughs). Mr. Otsu&#8217;s side is also threatening legal action against Mr. Maruyama, who is unilaterally proceeding to hold the general meeting.
According to a source close to the situation, Mr. Tachibana&#8217;s side is hoping to draw Mr. Otsu out into the open, as he refuses to meet them face to face, in order to achieve a settlement by &#8220;outnumbering them&#8221; strategy. Ostensibly, they are putting pressure on Otsu by involving the media, including Mr. Maruyama, but behind the scenes, they are trying not to &#8220;provoke him too much.
 We are trying not to provoke them too much. I heard that they are humbly proposing a settlement,&#8221; said a source in Nagatacho.
(Nagatacho source).
On the other hand, Mr. Otsu&#8217;s side has the advantage of being able to investigate the party&#8217;s related accounts. They have already invited a lawyer familiar with campaign finance to investigate the suspicious flow of money.
Mr. Otsu took to Twitter on January 27 to say
 We have compiled all the criminal acts committed by Takashi Tachibana and are diligently proceeding with the criminal complaint process. We will report on this as soon as possible.
The main point for the time being is that the Chiba District Court has ruled that the criminal charges against Tachibana Takashi will be dismissed.
The key question for the moment is which party representative will be the party&#8217;s representative, whose case is being heard by the Chiba District Court. If it is Otsu&#8217;s side, Tachibana has indicated his intention to file an immediate appeal. On the other hand, Mr. Otsu&#8217;s side will not only file a complaint against Mr. Tachibana, but will also file an appeal immediately.
 He is considering a reset or even dissolution of the 48 Women&#8217;s Political Party, which follows the NHK Party lineage. They are doing it with a certain sense of justice.
Tachibana is said to be &#8220;doing it out of some kind of sense of justice.
For Tachibana, the situation is not a matter of &#8220;breaking up NHK,&#8221; but of &#8220;breaking up the NHK party.
The party&#8217;s infighting has little impact on people&#8217;s lives. It may be better to regard it as a scandal in the entertainment field rather than in the political arena.
However, the party receives more than 100 million in party subsidies, which are funded by our tax dollars. The &#8220;dog-eat-dog&#8221; farce can only be a lesson for the next election. &#8230;&#8230;

 Kyodo News Agency

 Since the expulsion of Gershie and the issuance of a warrant for his arrest, the infighting within the former NHK Party has continued unabated. A battle over money has broken out between the former party leader Takashi Tachibana and his nominated successor Ayaka Otsu. ......

NHK’s “NHK Party” is “destroyed” by the infighting between Takashi Tachibana and Ayaka Otsu.

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