“He Ran, He Left Me” — Ayaka Ōtsu’s Battle with Takashi Tachibana Reaches Its Peak
Over 170 lawsuits in three years
“Lately, I’ve been able to sleep well and then suddenly I think, ‘Oh, that’s right, I got arrested!’ It happens often. Some people criticize it as hostage justice, so being released might be possible, but at least for now, I feel like I’m able to live peaceful days.”
Ayaka Ōtsu (33), leader of the Minna de Tsukuru Tō party, said she learned of Takashi Tachibana’s (58) arrest, leader of the NHK kara Kokumin wo Mamoru Tō party, through a call from her lawyer.
“The call came at 6:30 a.m. on November 9, but even the lawyer didn’t know exactly where he had been arrested. For a while, it didn’t feel real at all. Right after I hung up, I went to a certain place—the location where a volunteer staffer for Minna de Tsukuru Tō, who had been battling malicious defamation, threats, and exposure by Tachibana and his supporters, had passed away. I reported the arrest there.
That volunteer staffer had their home address exposed by Tachibana on X in January 2025, was harassed by his fanatical supporters around their house, had their workplace identified, and threats extended to their family. In protest, they took their own life.
Some people say, ‘It’s too much to arrest someone over defamation,’ but has there ever been such extreme defamation before? How many precious lives have been lost so far?”
Ōtsu was appointed leader of the Seijika Joshi 48 Tō in 2023, the predecessor of Minna de Tsukuru Tō. From that point, her battle with Tachibana began. The total number of lawsuits reached 176. Upon reaching the milestone of the arrest, what she reflects on is the absurdity of Japan.
“Before entering politics, I thought the judiciary and investigative agencies would act more smoothly. I thought they would respond if I asked for help. But that wasn’t the case. I realized how carelessly peaceful my life had been.
During the previous Tokyo gubernatorial election, awful posters were put up. Posters with my photo saying, ‘Ayaka Ōtsu! Give back the money!’ were placed in 332 locations that we could confirm. During the campaign period, we couldn’t remove them, and it was really unpleasant. The NHK Party sold the right to put up these posters for 10,000 yen each and profited.
The worst part was when my father tearfully said, ‘I’ll take the posters down!’ I told him not to because that would be a crime, and my heart hurt so much. Still, someone seemed to have tried to remove a poster on the board nearest our home, and traces remained, but Tachibana said, ‘I put it back up.’ It was really creepy.”
The posters included a QR code linking to a YouTube video claiming that Ōtsu participated in an obscene SM political fundraising party involving things like shibari bondage.
“I never held such a political fundraising party. The outrageous ideas were written jokingly in LINE by members of Seijika Joshi 48 Tō, not by me. It was recognized as a personal attack against me in civil court, and the complaint was accepted.
However, even when I held a press conference at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government over this, no major media covered it. I thought the world is absurd. Media action can stir public opinion and influence politics, so I felt the social responsibility of media very strongly.”
“FRIDAY has covered me consistently and continues to report, which I’m very grateful for,” she said, bowing her head, and continued:
“A lawsuit came in recently, so the total is probably 177. It was from someone who had been a party member when Minna de Tsukuru Tō was the NHK Party, claiming ‘I invested, so I deserve to be a party executive.’
Normally, complaints are delivered via the party’s administrator, but somehow it was delivered directly to the party post, so I couldn’t check it, and the trial ended without me knowing, but we won. That person apparently filed for permission to appeal, but it was denied.
Most other cases were absurd, like, ‘I was defamed because I was said to be slandered.’ Against Tachibana, I think our win rate is over 80%. Many were SLAPP lawsuits intended to harass, so while we do win, it costs a lot of time and money.”
“I’ll carry the party for the rest of my life”
She says she was saved by the goodwill of her advisory lawyer, who told her, “You can pay me whenever you’re able.” There were also lawyers who, seeing her dire situation, helped her for only the advisory fee and actual expenses. When she filed disclosure requests against malicious accounts, there was even a time when, after the trial, a lawyer representing the platform called her to apologize, saying, “To be honest, I didn’t want to defend a case like this.”
“Filing disclosure requests against malicious accounts costs money, you know. So I can’t file as many as I’d like. And on top of that, I myself have been sued by the platform for filing disclosure requests against accounts that make money by spreading false information and slander. They say my disclosure requests were improper.
Isn’t it a problem to sue the victim? They turn a blind eye to villains who use the spread of defamation for advertising revenue, while suppressing the speech of victims. And they even do it with a large legal team of around five lawyers.
One of our party’s policy pledges is the eradication of anonymous online lynching. We will call for reforms such as imposing a legal obligation on platforms to cooperate with disclosures, and applying strict penalties for violations.”
“They can pay, but they don’t. After his arrest, Tachibana offered a settlement to the wife of Prefectural Assemblyman Hideaki Takeuchi, who passed away, right? I heard he offered an extraordinary settlement amount in the tens of millions of yen. Yet he won’t even pay me 300,000 yen in damages. Where is he hiding that money?
I think they deliberately don’t pay in order to burden the victims. And Tachibana’s supporters follow suit. There are supporters who lose in court but don’t pay damages. In some cases, we tracked down their bank accounts, found that they had sufficient deposits, and seized them.
One supporter openly said, ‘I’ll go to prison for Mr. Tachibana.’ He seriously said, ‘I’ve never lost out in life by being someone’s yes-man. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!’—it scared me. Still, since Tachibana was arrested, his supporters seem to be losing cohesion.”
After three years of a fierce battle with Tachibana, has Ōtsu gained anything from it? When asked, “Have you become stronger at handling lawsuits?” she replied with a wry smile, “I’ve just accumulated knowledge I never want to use again—like bankruptcy.”
“Through the lawsuits, party subsidies that should have been recognized as legitimate political activity are now being used to repay the enormous debts created by Tachibana. If the party were dissolved, the claims would come to me as the representative, so I can never dissolve it. I have to carry this party with me for the rest of my life.
I’ve already covered a significant amount out of my own pocket, and there will be more claims in the future. Who would want to marry a woman like that? My father, who sacrificed his personal assets to fight alongside me, even ended up getting divorced. I was told, ‘It’s your fault.’”
“My boyfriend ran away, saying ‘I got scared”
In the past, she had happily reported to FRIDAY Digital that she had a boyfriend, but that man has already left her. The breakup was because Tachibana and his supporters were directing attacks at her, and he feared his own position would be endangered.
(You can read more about Ōtsu’s love stories in this interview article:
“She said, ‘I got scared.’ This past summer, he said he wanted to get back together, which made me happy, but I realized I can’t be with someone who ran away when I was at my lowest. Well, to be honest, I had already given up on marriage when false rumors claiming I was a prostitute with leaked sexual images were spread.”
Then she laughed self-deprecatingly, saying, “I’m not normal, so normal men don’t come near me,” but what came next was surprising. She is currently studying law at university and aims to become a lawyer.
“Tachibana was also sent to prosecutors for other charges like assault, but those ended with non-prosecution or deferred prosecution. His supporters must have felt empowered, thinking ‘he’s innocent!’ The fight isn’t over yet. The cases I filed haven’t even been acted on by the authorities.
The case I most want to push forward now is the embezzlement of 350 million yen in party funds. Of the cases I filed and that were accepted, this has the longest potential sentence. You could say I’ve been fighting for these three years because of this. Tachibana has said in the past, ‘I used it for legitimate activities,’ but in civil court he could not prove that. Even in this case, he has admitted the facts of the trial. He has acknowledged things he couldn’t contest in court.
I’m claiming unjust enrichment, so the damages come to around 40 million yen. He’s effectively acknowledging the total of 390 million yen. He has also admitted to purchasing land to build a hotel with a dog run. That alone should qualify as embezzlement.”
She decided to pursue law because “I realized there are terrible lawyers who instigate SLAPP lawsuits and spread defamation, so I need knowledge to fight back.” At the end of the interview, Ōtsu said:
“Tachibana encouraged people, ‘You’ll profit by spreading bad words, right?’ If you spread lies and insults, you get views and can monetize it. The person who defamed me as a prostitute and made a profit in the millions only had to pay 110,000 yen in damages. Ridiculous. Not even enough for the stamp fee. The stamp fee alone was 130,000 yen—unbelievable.
First, I want to raise the compensation amount so that it acts as a deterrent. Even if not, I want to make sure the victim isn’t left worse off. Filing a disclosure request costs 300,000 yen. After that, there’s the lawyer’s retainer and success fees. The time and stress also add up. The damages are hardly compensated.
Now, defamation spreads worldwide online at incredible speed. Compensation must match the times. Platforms also bear a large responsibility for allowing money to be made from defamation. Unless that changes, there will always be people who abuse it.
Of course, freedom of speech is important, and criticism of the government is essential, but that is entirely different from profiting off lies and defamation.”
She often hears from men, “If I dated you, I’d probably get sued.” Ōtsu laughs, showing her white teeth: “I think, ‘Well, what bad things have you done?’”
“I hope Netflix turns this into a movie. Suddenly made the leader of a national political party, and then immediately saddled with huge debts. Isn’t that an interesting story?”
And this story is only just reaching its climax.