Someone who is making a lot of money from political broadcasts… Ayaka Otsu’s new party concept: “We’re going to smash the vested interests!

Fate is a strange thing. Only six months ago, Ayaka Otsu, 30, was working for Takashi Tachibana, 55, as a candidate. Now, as the leader of the 48 Politician Girls Party, they are engaged in a fierce legal battle.

It all started when I went on the Internet and saw the 48 Politician Girls Party’s candidate application page and submitted my application. It was December 25 last year. Two days later, on the 27th, Mr. Tachibana said to me, ‘I was accepted (for screening). Where do you want to leave?’ I received a phone call saying, ‘What do you mean?　Don’t you have an interview or something?’ He replied, “If you don’t decide now which constituency you will run for, we will pass it on to the next person.

By the way, you are the seventh (successful candidate). I was living in Minato Ward at the time, but they said, ‘Minato Ward is reserved for idol girls,’ so I decided to run in Meguro Ward. Then he told me to move to Meguro-ku by then because he was going to hold a press conference on January 13 after the New Year. …… Tachibana was a mess from that time on (laughs).”

The initial concept of the 48 Politician Girls Party was to be “a group of people who are more like idols who perform on stage with dinner. In fact, two-thirds of the candidates were aspiring idols.

My father runs a real estate company, and I graduated from the Department of Design at NICHIGEI with the intention of eventually taking over the company. I applied for the job with a light heart.

I had appeared on NHK’s “Weekly Children’s News” with Akira Ikegami (72) when I was a child actor, so I had always had an interest in politics. However, I didn’t support any particular political party.

When he left Meguro, he began researching the district government and found one allegation after another. He began to send out messages using the keywords “expose the darkness of Meguro Ward” and “pitch-black Meguro. His sense of justice began to burn, which led to his later battle with Mr. Tachibana.

In early March, Tachibana resigned due to the suspect’s absence from a plenary session of the House of Councillors. He was nominated as his successor, and the Otsu Party leader was born. Life took a sudden turn.

He was rejected by a number of people, so they offered him the seat to me. When I asked him, “Why me? I asked him, “Because there are certified public accountants (in the party), but no one like Akira Ikegami’s daughter. He must have decided on the spur of the moment. I guess they would have been happy with anyone who could be a puppet party leader or a bulletproof person, but I took the job because I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn about representation, party leadership, and how it works.

However, it was a mistake to transfer even the …… representative power to me. I think Mr. Tachibana felt the same way, so he later asked me to return his representative authority to him, saying that he would pay me an allowance as party leader. I also heard that he secretly contacted someone close to me and Mr. Kurokawa (Atsuhiko) and offered to buy the representative right for 200 million yen. I was convinced that he must have a guilty (guilt) problem, so I told him that it was absolutely impossible. Besides, where could he get 200 million yen when the party was short of funds?

When Tachibana refused to return his representative rights, he was met with such comments as, “Ayaka Otsu has been expelled,” “Ayaka Otsu is a liar! and “Ayaka Otsu is a liar! But why did they decide to fight Mr. Tachibana, whom no one wants to make enemies with?

Mr. Kurokawa, who had helped us with our campaign plans, dispatched people to our campaign, and worked with us at his own expense, was attacked by Mr. Tachibana for being “dirty with money” and “having the party’s favorite child in his office,” and was forced to resign, which made me fearful. I thought, “This is how they purge those who don’t agree with them. At the same time, I became angry, “You were the one who had seven or eight of the party’s favorite girls lined up in a bar in Roppongi, enjoying themselves in a cabaret-like atmosphere! I became angry.

Mr. Tachibana put the responsibility for the party’s shortfall in funds on me, but I want to say, ‘As the treasurer, you were in charge of managing the party’s funds, weren’t you? I want to say. I wanted to clarify why the party was running on a bicycle, so I said, ‘Please show me the accounting documents,’ but to my surprise, Mr. Tachibana said, ‘I won’t show them to you. He also tried to obstruct my election by saying, ‘Otsu has no actual residence in Meguro,’ and ‘It’s strange that he has two houses,’ but he said, ‘It was you who instructed him to do that, wasn’t it?'” He said, ‘You are the one who ordered that, aren’t you?

As I mentioned earlier, the candidates for the Political Women’s 48 Party had only two weeks between the official approval and the press conference, after the year-end and New Year holidays. So Mr. Tachibana had the candidates move out in a hurry, including renting a Leo Palace for them. So we had two houses. This was done at the direction of Mr. Tachibana. I would like you to stop manipulating impressions with lies and falsehoods. If you don’t have a guilty conscience, show me evidence. That’s all I’m saying.”

If you keep silent, you will be crushed. Attack is the best defense – to survive, Otsu had no choice but to fight, he says.

People would say, “How can you fight with that Takashi Tachibana? My family was also against it. “ There are even people who claim that Mr. Kurokawa is manipulating me to fight with him. However, let me say this clearly, I am only pointing out what I think is ‘wrong’ as ‘wrong. I am simply pursuing allegations of wrongdoing. I have no vested interests or ties. I have no guilt, so there is no way I can lose to Mr. Tachibana.

Since party subsidies are frozen, he has to pay for his activities and legal fees out of his own pocket. In addition, his face and name have become known to the public as “the politician who is in a fierce battle with Takashi Tachibana,” so “I can’t even use matching apps anymore! Otsu smiled mischievously.

I’m just joking, but I doubt anyone would be interested in going out with me, who is in a dogfight with Mr. Tachibana. (Laughs.) I could be the target of slander. No one wants to get involved in trouble. I guess I’ll have to put romance on hold for a while. I met with a number of investigative authorities. I told them everything I know. I have the impression that they are seriously interested.

……When this battle is over, I plan to start over as “a political party with DNA that has exposed corruption and cleaned up the flow of money. I will also change the party’s constitution. I am also considering changing the name of the party to “Political Women” because we have male candidates who agree with us. Yes, I found out this when I entered politics, but there are people who make a lot of money from political broadcasts. This kind of interest story is all over the political world. I am now more interested in “destroying vested interests” than my boyfriend. I would like to have friends who will agree with my aim and fight together with me. If the party can be successfully reborn, I may go to Mr. Ikegami for advice.

In fighting these “liars with the ability to communicate,” Otsu says, “I have been really trained because they can easily catch me at the end of my words. Last month, he published a book titled “Politics is Fighting!　(12 Years of Akashi Mayor), published by Kodansha, and asked her directly for advice on party management.

Her eyes are already looking ahead to the “battle” ahead.