New Controversial Heroine Emerges After Mayor Takubo’s Bizarre Statement

“I watched it for about 19.2 seconds.”

On August 13, Maki Takubo (55), mayor of Itō City in Shizuoka Prefecture, who has been under scrutiny for allegedly falsifying her academic credentials, appeared for the first time before the City Council’s Hyakujō Committee. The committee has the authority to impose criminal penalties if a witness refuses to appear without reason or provides false testimony.

Previously, Mayor Takubo had claimed in public bulletins that she graduated from Toyo University, but it was later revealed that she had been removed from the registry, a fact she has admitted. The key question is whether the diploma she showed the council chair after her election was genuine or forged.

The council chair had claimed it was just a quick glance, but during the hearing, Mayor Takubo stated,

“I believe it was about 19.2 seconds that it was viewed,”

which caused murmurs and some suppressed laughter among the committee members.

After the hearing, in a press briefing, Takubo revealed that she had recorded her conversation with the chair and explained that the 19.2-second figure was measured with a stopwatch.

Committee members pressed persistently with questions designed to catch her in a contradiction. One asked,

“Shouldn’t the real diploma from the mayor’s safe be taken to Toyo University to confront them?”

Takubo deflected, saying,

“I have great affection for the university and would prefer not to approach it confrontationally.”

When asked directly,

“Have you ever seen the real Toyo University diploma?”

she replied,

“As for whether I have seen it, I have not.”

Criminal complaints can be withdrawn at any time

“When he says, ‘I have never seen the real graduation certificate,’ it’s basically a confession that the certificate he submitted is not genuine. Many people say that listening to Mayor Takubo’s exchanges is frustrating because the conversation doesn’t make sense. But the public’s feelings of ‘This is infuriating’ or ‘He must be lying!’ translate into TV ratings. From a broadcaster’s perspective, it’s like a new heroine of scandal has emerged, and there’s a buzz inside the station.”

This was said by a staff member of a commercial TV network’s wide-show program.

“Whenever we broadcast the suspicions around Mayor Takubo, the ratings jump by over 1%. This time, the phrase ‘about 19.2 seconds’ popped up—it’s catchy. If you say ‘about,’ it should be 19 or 20 seconds, right? I wonder how much of the decimal point they rounded off (laughs). How we edit these things to make them entertaining is our skill. It’s unfortunate for the citizens of Ito, but honestly, we want Mayor Takubo to stick around longer,” said the same wide-show staffer.

However, unlike the TV staff’s perspective, the public is furious.

A construction company president in Ito filed a criminal complaint under suspicion of violating the Public Offices Election Act, which the police accepted on July 28. Then, on July 31, a public servant living in Chiba Prefecture filed a criminal complaint against Mayor Takubo for suspected use of a falsified private document with a seal, as well as fabrication and use of a false official document.

Even though Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito has also been criminally reported, little progress in investigations has been announced. Attorney Kenta Morijitsu of Morijitsu Law Office explains why investigations into politicians and mayors often lag:

“It’s less about them being politicians and more about the police lacking sufficient personnel and time to investigate cases filed by third parties. Also, criminal complaints can be withdrawn at any time, so if they are, any investigation done up to that point could be wasted. This need for caution may make it seem like investigations aren’t progressing. Whether a case goes to prosecution is up to the public prosecutor; even if investigated, insufficient evidence can result in deferred prosecution or non-prosecution in a number of cases.”

Whether Mayor Takubo’s scandal will drag on as the TV stations hope remains to be seen.