<figure id="attachment_403978" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-403978" style="width: 1477px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="864a0478"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/22625720849c89f71c0b2dbb4c784031.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-403978" class="wp-caption-text">Mr. Ishimaru visits Mr. Sudo&#8217;s (right) parents&#8217; izakaya</figcaption></figure>
<h2> Heated discussion over a cup of sake</h2>
<p> Is this a move to prepare for next summer&#8217;s Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election?</p>
<p> 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.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The &#8220;Magato-sha &#8230;&#8230;&#8221;</span><br>
<span class="strongInContent"> Pension Hane &#8230;&#8230;&#8221;</span></p>
<p> 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&#8217;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&#8217;s Tokyo gubernatorial election, but was eliminated as the runner-up.</p>
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<p> The two men drank together for nearly four hours at an izakaya (Japanese-style bar) in Sudo&#8217;s family home. They were joined on the way by Hiroki Takahashi, 43, operator of the YouTube channel &#8220;ReHacQ,&#8221; 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.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I get inquiries like, &#8220;Are you joining Mr. Ishimaru&#8217;s new party?&#8221; 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!</span></p>
<p> On the 11th, the day after the meeting, Mr. Sudo again denied &#8220;joining Ishimaru&#8217;s new party&#8221; on his &#8220;X&#8221; (formerly Twitter).</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" New Movement in Koto Ward"></div>
<h2>Why I traveled to Tokyo&#8217;s 15th district</h2>
<figure id="attachment_403979" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-403979" style="width: 961px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="6dd96fb4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/3b7bd6fca5e933ed4d209f791f230361.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-403979" class="wp-caption-text"> Ishimaru defied expectations and came in second in the Tokyo gubernatorial election</figcaption></figure>
<p> In the evening of the same day, Mr. Sudo and Mr. Ishimaru attended the launching ceremony of their political organization, &#8220;Saisei no Toki,&#8221; held at Tomioka Hachiman Shrine in Koto-ku, Tokyo. At the event, a panel discussion was held with Yui Kanazawa (34), who ran for the House of Representatives as an independent candidate in the recent election, in addition to the two men. The director of the organization explained the purpose of the meeting as follows.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> We approached Mr. Ishimaru in late November, and he said he was planning to come to Tokyo in December, so we invited him to join us. We only paid Mr. Ishimaru&#8217;s transportation expenses and the cost of a cab from his hotel to the venue.&#8221;</span></p>
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<p> In Koto and Tokyo&#8217;s 15th ward, where Mr. Ishimaru attended a ceremony to launch a new party and shared drinks with Mr. Sudo, there have been a number of scandals involving politicians. Former Vice Minister of Justice Mito Kakizawa (53) and former ward mayor Yayoi Kimura (59) resigned over a violation of the Public Election Law in last year&#8217;s Koto Ward mayoral election. Kakizawa&#8217;s predecessor, former House of Representatives member Tsukasa Akimoto, 52, was also arrested for bribery and violating the Organized Crime Punishment Law in connection with a corruption case involving an IR project, but all three were elected in Koto Ward.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> &#8220;There have been a series of &#8216;politics and money&#8217; problems both in national and ward politics, and the 15th ward has become a symbolic place for politics and money problems,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is not good. Local business owners and members of the Junior Chamber of Commerce voiced their opinions, saying, &#8220;This is not right, let&#8217;s start over from scratch.</span></p>
<p> Many of the board members, including the founder, are supporters of Mr. Kakizawa. In March of this year, Kakizawa&#8217;s conviction became final, and under the provisions of the Public Offices Election Law, his civic rights were suspended for five years, barring him from running in all elections. A Koto Ward assemblyman spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> There are whispers that the son of a secretary who served the Kakizawa family as father and son, and the grandson of former House of Representatives member Tsutomu Kimura, 85, may run in next summer&#8217;s Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election. In the LDP, former Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member Kazuteru Yamazaki, 52, is making preparations, and a fierce campaign by the three families is expected.&#8221;</span></p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" A direct interview with Ishimaru can be found at ......"></div>
<h2>Is this a stepping stone to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly elections?</h2>
<figure id="attachment_403980" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-403980" style="width: 1477px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f54a6b15"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/12/ed1a95d740b61a6562121705e495590f.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-403980" class="wp-caption-text"> The distribution staff and others gathered at &#8220;Issouko.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The time is next July in Tokyo.</span></p>
<p> On November 12, Ishimaru opened his YouTube page with the following words.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> On November 12, Ishimaru opened his YouTube channel with the following words: &#8220;I am going to create a regional political party for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly elections. If you are interested in becoming a Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member, please start preparing. Let&#8217;s move Tokyo together.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> In the recent lower house election, Sudo came within 1,125 votes of Natsumi Sakai, 38, a member of the House of Representatives of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, who won the election despite being an independent. Although they have not made their stance on the Tokyo Assembly election clear, building a relationship is not a bad thing for both parties.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The LDP in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly is likely to face a problem of back taxes over its political fund parties. Several Diet members and Tokyo assembly members appear to have received kickbacks for selling more than their quota of 50 tickets, with the amount of unreported sales exceeding 1 million yen, and the names of the lawmakers who cut out the middleman are beginning to emerge. If the prosecutors and police act and arrests are made on the Tokyo Metropolitan Federation side, it is clear that the LDP will have a tough time in the summer election for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. Naturally, this would be a boon for Mr. Ishimaru. The groundwork is being laid for an even greater &#8216;Ishimaru whirlwind&#8217; than that of the Tokyo gubernatorial election.</span></p>
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<p> After the meeting, we directly interviewed Mr. Ishimaru.</p>
<p> &#8211;Is today&#8217;s meeting a stepping stone for Ishimaru&#8217;s new party?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> No, it was not such a meeting. Hahaha.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> &#8211;Are you going to join the new party in some way, Mr. Sudo?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> We never talked about that.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> Ishimaru laughed off the reporter&#8217;s question and left in a cab, surrounded by officials. The concept of Ishimaru&#8217;s new party remains veiled. The only thing that remains to be seen is the &#8220;speculation of those around him&#8221; who are trying to get in on the idea of a new party.</p>
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 Daisuke Iwasaki

 Daisuke Iwasaki (1st and 3rd photos) Afro (2nd photo)

 On the evening of December 10, Shinji Ishimaru, former mayor of Aki Takata, and Genki Sudo, former member of the House of Councillors, held a "drinking party" at Isoko, a Japanese-style pub with a downtown atmosphere in Koto-ku, Tokyo. An unexpected combination, but what was the purpose?

The &#8220;New Party Vision&#8221; for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election was directly discussed with Shinji Ishimaru after his &#8220;secret meeting&#8221; with Genki Sudo!

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

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