The “New Party Vision” for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election was directly discussed with Shinji Ishimaru after his “secret meeting” with Genki Sudo!

Heated discussion over a cup of sake

Is this a move to prepare for next summer’s Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election?

On the evening of December 10, two men were sharing a cup of sake at Isoko, an izakaya with a downtown atmosphere in Koto-ku, Tokyo.

The “Magato-sha ……”
Pension Hane ……”

The conversation never stops as they sip their drinks and enjoy the tasty snacks at a reasonable price. A stout man in a suit is Genki Sudo, 46, a former fighter who ran unopposed in the October lower house election in Tokyo’s 15th ward (Koto-ku) and came in as the runner-up. The other thin man in a turtleneck is Shinji Ishimaru, 42, former mayor of Aki Takata City, who came close to Governor Yuriko Koike, 72, in this summer’s Tokyo gubernatorial election, but was eliminated as the runner-up.

The two men drank together for nearly four hours at an izakaya (Japanese-style bar) in Sudo’s family home. They were joined on the way by Hiroki Takahashi, 43, operator of the YouTube channel “ReHacQ,” and Shun Otokita, 41, a former member of the House of Councillors of The Japan Innovation Party. For some reason, Takahashi and Ishimaru got into an arm-wrestling match.

I get inquiries like, “Are you joining Mr. Ishimaru’s new party?” We have different policies from Mr. Ishimaru, but I hope we can continue to be good friends as comrades who care about Japan and as drinking buddies. Osui!

On the 11th, the day after the meeting, Mr. Sudo again denied “joining Ishimaru’s new party” on his “X” (formerly Twitter).