Shinji Ishimaru, “violating the Public Election Law,” held a press conference with TV Asahi and then Nikkan Gendai…still “biting” at the media.

Violation of the Public Election Law similar in composition to Governor Motohiko Saito of Hyogo Prefecture

On February 7, the Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office and Hyogo Prefectural Police raided a PR firm on suspicion of violating the Public Offices Election Law.

On February 7, the Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office and the Hyogo Prefectural Police raided a PR firm on suspicion of violating the Public Office Act. The previous day, February 6, the Shukan Bunshun (weekly magazine) reported on Shinji Ishimaru (42), who is in the spotlight for a number of reasons, and his alleged violation of the Public Office Act.

Ishimaru ran as an independent in last July’s Tokyo gubernatorial election, but his success was dubbed the “Ishimaru phenomenon” or “Ishimaru whirlwind” after he won more than 1.6 million votes, second only to incumbent Yuriko Koike (72). The election campaign was a success, with the party’s social networking activities being widely used to promote the election.

He was a pioneer of the “SNS election” that was highlighted in the Hyogo gubernatorial election.

And like Saito, Ishimaru’s alleged violation of the Public Election Law is related to this SNS.

Ishimaru has been distributing videos of the campaign period on his YouTube channel, but there are suspicions that the live-streamed video of the campaign rally may have been filmed by a professional contractor for a fee.

In the column of “Expenses (Advertising Expenses)” in the “Election Campaign Expenses Balance Report” submitted by Mr. Ishimaru to the Tokyo Metropolitan Election Commission, there is an entry for 977,350 yen as expenditures for the day the live-streaming took place. The name of the expense is listed as “Cancellation fee for live-streaming equipment. The payee is a company that specializes in live distribution. This is the reason for the suspicion.

The fact that a group of people who appeared to be affiliated with this specialized company were filming at the site, and a high-quality video that appeared to have been made by professionals was distributed, even though the event was canceled, is pointed out as inexplicable.

According to the Ishimaru camp’s explanation, they had initially hired a professional company to distribute the video, but cancelled it due to concerns about a “takeover. However, because of the recent cancellation, it appears that they paid the full quoted price. However, in reality, the specialist contractor is filming and distributing the video.

Although the company claims that these were volunteers, many people may have thought, “I’ve heard this story before. This is because the story is similar to the one involving Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito and a PR firm that was alleged to have violated the Public Offices Election Law.

In response to the “Bunshun” report, Mr. Ishimaru held a hastily-called explanatory press conference on February 6.

At the press conference, Mr. Ishimaru apologized for the campaign’s deficiencies and said that he recognized the cancellation fee as an “equipment rental fee,” but the campaign’s secretary general, who presided over the meeting, announced that the person in charge had instructed the contractor to change the name on the invoice.