Election Watcher Chidai Sounds the Alarm on Takashi Tachibana After Victory Against the NHK Party

Taken to court for writing antisocial cult group

On the morning of March 20, 1995, around 8:00 AM, highly toxic nerve gas sarin was released inside subway cars in Tokyo, resulting in the deaths of 14 crew members, passengers, and station workers, and injuring approximately 6,300 others. This horrifying event, known as the Tokyo Subway Sarin Attack, remains one of the most infamous crimes in Japanese history.

Thirty years have passed, but television and other media outlets continue to produce special features and reports, emphasizing the need to prevent the memory of this terrorist act, perpetrated by the antisocial cult Aum Shinrikyo, from fading. They are once again examining Aum Shinrikyo in depth.

Amidst this, although not widely reported, the Tokyo High Court recently issued a ruling in a significant case.

On March 18, the Tokyo High Court dismissed an appeal filed by the NHK Party, led by Takashi Tachibana (57), in a defamation lawsuit against journalist Election Watcher Chidai (Tomohiro Ishiwata).

This case stemmed from the Tokyo gubernatorial election held last July, during which Chidai referred to the NHK Party on X as:

“Antisocial cult group”

“Similar to Aum, except they haven’t used sarin gas”

Claiming that these posts damaged their reputation, the NHK Party sued for defamation, seeking 1.6 million yen in damages. However, in the first trial, the Tokyo District Court ruled:

“The content of the posts does not exceed the bounds of legitimate commentary.”

The ruling stated:

“The plaintiff’s representative has explicitly expressed a willingness to disregard the law, has spoken about the possibility of terrorism and ethnic genocide, and has encouraged or provided illegal and disruptive activities as a service to the general public. Given these facts, the party can be recognized as an antisocial cult group.”

As a result, the NHK Party lost the case.

The NHK Party appealed but did not challenge the factual determinations of the first trial. Instead, they made a supplementary argument claiming:

“The expression antisocial cult group constitutes a statement of fact. Even if it were considered an opinion or commentary, a significant amount of time has passed, and most of the events in question occurred when the appellant was a different organization (a political group or party). Therefore, it exceeds the bounds of fair commentary on the current NHK Party.”

However, in the appeal trial, the Tokyo High Court rejected all of these arguments. The court effectively reaffirmed that the NHK Party is an antisocial cult group.