<figure id="attachment_415020" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-415020" style="width: 1154px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c46665b8"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/02/ae19caf931d8f60fdd578d408d364697.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-415020" class="wp-caption-text">Motohiko Saito (left), Hyogo Governor-elect, was elected in a &#8220;run-off&#8221; gubernatorial election. Takashi Tachibana played a major role in his re-election. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
<h2> I have no way to refute the claim that I handed it to him.</h2>
<p> The various issues raised over the Hyogo gubernatorial election show no signs of being resolved as the year progresses, and in fact, new problems are erupting.</p>
<p> The video posted by Takashi Tachibana, 57, leader of the &#8220;NHK Protect the People Party,&#8221; immediately after the death of Hideaki Takeuchi, a former Hyogo Prefecture legislator who was also a member of the Hyakujo Committee, was a false and slanderous statement against Takeuchi, which is indeed unforgivable.</p>
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<p> This has prompted the public to ask whether Mr. Tachibana should be allowed to remain in his position, and television and newspapers, which are considered old media, have begun to verify Mr. Tachibana&#8217;s statements.</p>
<p> The &#8220;Report Special&#8221; (TBS) has reported on the &#8220;Tachibana issue&#8221; twice, and in the report, the person who gave Mr. Tachibana the &#8220;documents&#8221; that were the source of the series of &#8220;false&#8221; information that Mr. Tachibana had sent out is now being questioned. The program reported that the person who gave Mr. Tachibana the &#8220;document&#8221; that was the source of a series of &#8220;false&#8221; information sent out by Mr. Tachibana was Minoru Kishiguchi, a prefectural assembly member who is also the vice chairman of the Article 100 Committee.</p>
<p> Tachibana admitted to the program&#8217;s interview, but Kishiguchi denied it, and a battle erupted between the two. However, on February 19, Ryohei Iwatani, secretary general of The Japan Innovation Party, held a press conference in which he admitted that Mr. Kishiguchi had met with Mr. Tachibana.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> &#8220;I have no way to refute the allegation that he handed over the money to Tachibana.</span></p>
<p> Mr. Ryohei Iwatani, the head of the Restoration Association, admitted at a press conference that he met with Mr. Tachibana.</p>
<p> The dubious document obtained by Tachibana contains information concerning the privacy of a former prefectural government official who died after accusing Governor Motohiko Saito (47), as well as false information about Takeuchi, another former prefectural assembly member who also died.</p>
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<p> There was only one purpose. Mr. Tachibana also said</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Mr. Tachibana also said, &#8220;Thanks to me, I was elected.</span></p>
<p> As Mr. Tachibana has said, &#8220;I was elected thanks to me,&#8221; it was probably done to get Governor Saito reelected.</p>
<p> Despite this, Governor Saito, who is also supposed to be a party to the problems, has persisted in saying &#8220;I had nothing to do with it&#8221; and &#8220;I don&#8217;t know&#8221; when asked about anything.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The members of the third-party committee were not disclosed to the public. ......"></div>
<h2>Two Third-Party Committees Established</h2>
<p> Governor Saito announced that he had set up a third-party committee on January 7 to investigate the &#8220;data on the official computer used by the former director of the Prefectural Citizens Bureau&#8221; and the &#8220;audio data of the secret meeting of the Hyakujo Committee,&#8221; which Tachibana had obtained, and that these &#8220;may constitute a leak of internal prefectural information. Governor Saito announced the establishment of a third-party committee on January 7, requesting the Hyogo Prefectural Bar Association to recommend a lawyer to investigate the contents of the spreading information. The committee was to receive a report by the end of FY2024.</p>
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<p> In fact, new allegations have surfaced regarding this &#8220;third-party committee.</p>
<p> At the regular press conference held on February 13, reporters asked questions about the third-party committee, and Governor Saito&#8217;s comments were closely watched, but he repeatedly gave puzzling answers.</p>
<p> The reporter&#8217;s questions were generally about the third-party committee&#8217;s membership, investigation methods, and progress. In other words, who are the members of the committee and what is the process of the investigation? The governor&#8217;s answer was, &#8220;I asked about the contents of the investigation, including the members, and how it is being conducted,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The governor&#8217;s answer was, &#8220;At this time, we are not disclosing the contents, methodology, or methods of the investigation, including the members of the committee.</span></p>
<p> The reason for the non-publication is that the survey is being conducted by a private company. What is the reason for not disclosing this information?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The reason for not disclosing the details of the investigation is that it is related to the content, including laws and regulations. The reason for not disclosing the information is that &#8220;it is related to the contents including laws and regulations, and depending on the results, it may also be related to personnel matters such as disciplinary actions.</span></p>
<p> The reason for not disclosing the information is because &#8220;it is related to the contents including laws and regulations, and depending on the result, it may also be related to personnel matters such as disciplinary action. According to the prefectural government&#8217;s information disclosure ordinance, those related to personnel management are exempted from disclosure.</p>
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<p> In fact, two third-party committees have been set up to investigate information leaks: one was set up in the Personnel Division to determine who leaked the contents of the official computer.</p>
<p> The other was set up in the prefecture&#8217;s legal documents section to investigate the leak of information obtained and disseminated by Tachibana. The reporter only asks what kind of framework and what kind of work they are doing. &#8230;&#8230;</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" &quot;Allegations&quot; surfaced against Governor Saito"></div>
<h2>I doubt if there is even a third party committee in place.</h2>
<p> At the very least, the members of the committee should be made public. As for the earlier &#8220;document issue,&#8221; Hyogo Prefecture&#8217;s website lists the names of the five lawyers who are members of the committee, including the outline. Fuji TV has also disclosed the members and announced that it is conducting an investigation by the end of March.</p>
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<p> Governor Saito said</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> We will consider how much we can disclose, including the investigation and its structure.</span></p>
<p> He said, &#8220;We will consider how much we can disclose, including the results of the investigation and its structure.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He said, &#8220;After the results are released, when the timing is right or when the situation becomes right, we will consider what form the results should take, including how to make them public.</span></p>
<p> He said, &#8220;We will consider how to disclose the results, if and when the appropriate timing or circumstances arise. I don&#8217;t understand what he meant by that.</p>
<p> A reporter from a TV station in Osaka said, &#8220;If the situation is kept under wraps like this, it will be very difficult for a third-party committee to make a decision.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> A reporter for a local TV station in Osaka said, &#8220;If they hide things like this, it makes me wonder if the members of the third-party committee are impartial and neutral or if they are people who have the authority of Governor Saito. More to the point, I doubt that a third-party committee has even been set up. I get the feeling that they are just waiting for the problem to fade away by deceit and deception.</span></p>
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<p> And here comes the part where Makoto Masuyama, a prefectural assembly member who is a member of the Hyakujo Committee, appeared on an Internet program and confessed that he had handed over the audio data of the Hyakujo Committee that Tachibana had obtained.</p>
<p> In order to get to the &#8220;heart&#8221; of the unprecedented events that took place in the Hyogo gubernatorial election, it is necessary to thoroughly investigate and verify the leak of this information. Even if they are just waiting for the public to forget about it, they will not do so. &#8230;&#8230;</p>


 Hiroyuki Sasaki (Entertainment Journalist)

 Takeshi Kinugawa

 Motohiko Saito was reelected governor of Hyogo Prefecture, but the post-election confusion continues. Not only was a third-party committee established last September to deal with the "document problem," but also a third-party committee was established on January 7 of this year to deal with the "information leak" issue. ......

New Allegations Emerge Against Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito and the Third-Party Committee Established to Address the &#8220;Leaked Information&#8221; Spread by Takashi Tachibana.

New Allegations Emerge Against Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito and the Third-Party Committee Established to Address the “Leaked Information” Spread by Takashi Tachibana.

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