Female Athlete’s Outfit and Tokyo University Doctor’s Photo Linked to Alleged Election Law Violation

In October, during the House of Representatives election, the provocative outfits of female campaign workers caused controversy. The focus was on Dr. Masafumi Tabuchi (66), an independent candidate running in Tokyo’s 26th district. He ended up in last place out of five candidates and lost the election. Now, this controversial candidate is making headlines again for a legal violation.

On November 30, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s Second Investigation Division arrested Tabuchi on suspicion of violating the Public Offices Election Act (bribery promise). He allegedly promised to pay multiple staff members 1,500 yen per hour for election campaign work. According to the Public Offices Election Act, except for certain exceptions such as campaign announcers, offering payments or promises of payment to campaign staff is generally prohibited.

Before delving into the details of the case, let’s look back at Tabuchi’s background.

“After graduating from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Medicine, Tabuchi opened a clinic in Tokyo and also served as a part-time lecturer at a private medical university. His specialty was gastroenterology. Around 2013, he began getting involved in politics, running in the House of Representatives election and the Meguro Ward mayoral election, but he lost in both. During the October House of Representatives election, he strongly advocated for issues such as ‘increasing healthy life expectancy’ and ‘restoring trust in politics.’

The issue at hand now is the revealing attire worn by female campaign workers, such as short pants. Multiple women have testified that they received instructions from Tabuchi’s camp regarding their outfits. On the other hand, Tabuchi has claimed in a video he appeared in that ‘it just happened to turn out that way’ and questioned whether people should be making a fuss over something so trivial.” (Reporter from a national newspaper’s social affairs department)

 

Hair shaggy, face down from start to finish: ……

 

Here are the details of the incident leading to his arrest:

“It seems that Dr. Tabuchi promised to pay university students and company employees in their 20s and 30s 1,500 yen per hour for assisting with the election campaign. To track their working hours, he allegedly had them punch in and out on timecards at the start and end of each day’s campaign activities. The time recorder was reportedly kept at the clinic run by Dr. Tabuchi.

However, during the election period, Tabuchi’s camp caught wind of the police investigation. It is suspected that, before a full investigation began, they may have destroyed the timecards. Despite the police conducting a raid on Dr. Tabuchi’s clinic and other locations, the timecards were not found. As of December 3, no payment of the promised wages has been confirmed. There are suspicions that Dr. Tabuchi and his campaign staff attempted to destroy evidence.” (Same source)

A photographer from our magazine captured images of Dr. Tabuchi’s transfer on December 2. As he emerged from the police station, his hair was disheveled, and he kept his head lowered, looking exhausted. Despite the confidence he showed during the election campaign, he appeared deeply weary.

Dr. Tabuchi allegedly gathered staff with the promise of 1,500 yen per hour, aiming to attract attention with provocative outfits. The police are also conducting voluntary investigations of the campaign workers involved.