Ayaka Otsu Finds Love While Facing an Extraordinary Life and Battling “Monsters”
“I recently got a boyfriend. The political world is overwhelmingly filled with elderly people, so there’s hardly any chance to meet someone. Sometimes, an old politician over 80 years old would approach me in a creepy way, saying things like ‘You’re prettier than a hostess in Ginza’ or ‘I could become the leader of your party (Everyone’s Party) and hire you.’ Because of this, I was using a dating app, but many people would run away when they found out about my background.
Well, it makes sense, right? If someone got involved with me, someone who’s constantly clashing with people like Takashi Tachibana (57) or those from the Tsubasa Party, they might think they’d get dragged into the fire as well. Nobody wants to associate with a ‘haunted woman’ who’s had her address exposed, been bombarded with unnecessary pamphlets, and had slanderous posters plastered in 332 locations across Tokyo. But this person knew exactly who I was, so much so that I didn’t even need to introduce myself, and still said ‘It’s okay.’”
My boyfriend is a healthcare worker in his 30s, and we’re currently in a long-distance relationship. Ayaka Otsu (31) said this while showing the reporter a photo. If I were to compare him to a celebrity, he’d probably be Masaki Okada. He’s a refreshing handsome guy who looks great in a plain T-shirt.
Even so, what a peculiar life it has been. Otsu, who studied architecture at an art university, entered the world of politics by chance and became the leader of her party in less than a year. She’s been engaged in fierce battles both online and in court with Tachibana, who was the reason she entered politics in the first place. On top of that, she’s surrounded by people who could be called ‘monsters,’ like GaaSyy (Yoshikazu Higashitani) and Tsubasa Party leader Atsuhiko Kurokawa (45), who was arrested for election interference (violation of the Public Offices Election Act) in the recent House of Representatives by-election.
“During the time when the Everyone’s Party was still known as the Politician Girls 48 Party, I received a great deal of support from Mr. Kurokawa. He offered me heartfelt advice when I was a political novice and even helped with election activities. That’s why, when I had to dismiss him from his position as party secretary-general, my father scolded me. However, I couldn’t bring myself to approve of making Mr. Kurokawa’s policies part of the party’s platform.
Things like ‘The Liberal Democratic Party is controlled by the CIA’ or ‘Haruma Miura was murdered’—it felt like he was caught up in conspiracy theories. While he’s free to continue his activities in the Tsubasa Party, I couldn’t see how such ideas would gain widespread support. During meetings, he would say things like ‘I’ve been scouted by the CIA. Should I accept?’ or claim ‘There was a dying message written on a marlin when Haruma Miura passed away.’ These ideas were completely incompatible with my own. I also couldn’t accept the hateful street protests he engaged in, so I believe parting ways was the right decision.”
The battle with Mr. Tachibana over party leadership and finances shows no signs of ending. Currently, several lawsuits are ongoing. In March of this year, creditors filed for the party’s bankruptcy, and the Tokyo District Court decided to commence bankruptcy proceedings. Ms. Otsu has filed a special appeal seeking to overturn this decision and cancel the commencement of the bankruptcy process.
“Just before I assumed the position of party leader, I heard rumors that the party’s debt was around 1 billion yen, but the actual situation remains unclear. At a recent creditors’ meeting, the debt had ballooned to 1.6 billion yen. However, most of the creditors are unknown. Mr. Tachibana has firmly refused to provide the creditor list, employee list, and some financial documents, turning everything into a black box. From what we could verify, there were creditors who had not received any interest payments, while others continued to receive interest even though their loans had already been repaid. The situation is extremely chaotic.
There were also problems with the borrowing methods, such as soliciting funds from an unspecified number of people online and using party subsidies, which cannot be applied to debt repayment, as collateral. Of course, we need to repay those who have been confirmed as legitimate creditors, but party subsidies cannot be used for past debt repayment. Legally, they can only be used to settle advances for the current year. There have been reports about seizing party subsidies, and we want to contest this as well. I have already filed a complaint for the violation of the accounting responsibility transfer duties due to the failure to hand over the party’s accounting documents.”
Mr. Tachibana has hinted online that investigations are underway for violations of the Investment Law and fraud. Where has the massive 1 billion yen disappeared to? Ms. Otsu comments on the situation.
“As the investigation progressed, it was found that the rent for an apartment in Tokyo where Mr. Tachibana’s son lives was being paid by the party. Additionally, Mr. Tachibana created a position called ‘temporary manager’ solely to pass on full authority in case of his death, appointing his daughter to this role and paying her 200,000 yen per month. Mr. Tachibana also lent himself 350 million yen from the party’s high-interest loans at no interest and without collateral. It seems he intended to use part of this money to ‘buy a hotel with a dog run on Awaji Island as a retirement nest egg.’ He persistently attacked me online, claiming that I was not paying salaries to party staff, but through labor arbitration, it was revealed that the staff he referred to were actually employees and secretaries of a call center Mr. Tachibana had set up, unrelated to the party.”
On the other hand, the bankruptcy trustee is seeking the refund of 41.5 million yen used for party promotions and 20 million yen in donations that were transferred from the party to Ayaka Otsu’s support association.
“Since we can’t use party subsidies to repay debts, we need to expand the party’s influence, gather donations, and increase party membership fees. Given the current situation with the party’s image suffering from all the disputes, we determined that promotion was necessary. We obtained estimates from three companies, and as you can verify, the amount is reasonable for an annual promotion contract. The promotion was carried out based on discussions within the party and decisions made by the board of executives. I hope the trustee will understand this after further communication.
Mr. Tachibana’s threats of harassment through street protests made finding an office very difficult. We were repeatedly rejected, with concerns about potential business disruption. Finding partners was also extremely challenging. For a while, we couldn’t even open a party bank account, so I had to rely on my father to advance political funds.”
The 20 million yen was for election strategy expenses.
“Initially, we were considering fielding candidates in elections such as the Shizuoka Prefecture gubernatorial race. I was personally preparing to run in the by-election for Tokyo’s 15th district and the Tokyo gubernatorial election. With the timing of the House of Representatives dissolution uncertain and the upcoming Senate election next year, it is standard practice for any party to send funds to support candidates for quick and flexible election strategies. Although we did not end up fielding candidates in those elections, as a national political party, we are committed to fighting effectively in the upcoming House of Representatives and Senate elections.”
In the Tokyo gubernatorial election held in July, Mr. Tachibana carried out a campaign tactic of hijacking bulletin boards. During this, posters with the message “Bankrupt Ayaka Otsu! Please return the money” alongside Otsu’s photo which were displayed at 300 locations in Tokyo. Otsu is outraged, saying “It is clear defamation and slander, and we will resolutely address it.”
“Mr. Tachibana is desperate to portray me as the villain. If it becomes known that he borrowed money, spent it all, and was continuously operating on a shoestring with no prospect of repayment, his supporters and creditors will wake up to the reality. However, the cancellation of unnecessary real estate leases by the party is progressing, and we expect to get back the deposits. The campaign deposit that Mr. Tachibana misappropriated from the Politician Girls Party is also expected to be returned. Results are gradually emerging. The 350 million yen that flowed from the party to Mr. Tachibana will also attract legal scrutiny. I want to turn these struggles into a strength and use my experience to create policies to rescue those troubled by online defamation and slap lawsuits.”
Ms. Otsu, who boldly confronts her unusual life, will undoubtedly see her momentum accelerate further with her strong supporter, her partner.
