<figure id="attachment_458188" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-458188" style="width: 1024px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="977fca30"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/02/5ccabb0b469933cbc1f170f31b3b499c.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-458188" class="wp-caption-text">Maki Takubo, former mayor of Ito City, loses re-election</figcaption></figure>
<h2> Shizuoka Prefectural Police Conduct &#8220;Angry&#8221; House Raid</h2>
 The investigation by the prefectural police into former Ito City Mayor Maki Takubo&#8217;s (56) alleged fraudulent use of his academic credentials has come to a head.
 On February 14, the prefectural police conducted a seven-hour raid on Takubo&#8217;s home in the city, where he has been criminally accused of violating the Local Autonomy Law. The seized items amounted to five cardboard boxes.
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 It was a very spirited raid. The prefectural police will decide whether or not to file charges based on the seized materials.
 The prefectural police must be thinking, &#8216;You&#8217;ve got to be kidding! They&#8217;re going to do everything they can. They will be very thorough.
 A reporter from a national newspaper&#8217;s society department said. What does this mean?
 What ignited the prefectural police&#8217;s anger was the thoroughness of Mr. Takubo&#8217;s opposition.
 He has so far denied committing any crime and has remained silent on the details in voluntary interviews. The document that holds the key to the allegations, the &#8220;diploma,&#8221; was not in Mr. Takubo&#8217;s home, but in a safe at the office of his attorney, Masahiro Fukushima, who represented him. On the 12th, he submitted a document to the prefectural police stating that he would not allow the documents to be seized against his right to refuse seizure as stipulated by the Code of Criminal Procedure.
 The right to refuse seizure means that attorneys can refuse to seize &#8220;confidential information of others&#8221; entrusted to them in the course of their duties under certain circumstances (Article 105 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). As long as this exists, it is difficult for the prefectural police to search a lawyer&#8217;s office to seize diplomas. A reporter for a national newspaper continued.
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 The diploma is originally to be kept by Mr. Takubo himself at his home. Since he moved them to the office of his attorney, who has the right to refuse to seize them, it can be assumed that he has no intention of cooperating with the investigation. If he does not change his attitude, Mr. Takubo&#8217;s arrest will become a possibility.
 To begin with, it has already been confirmed that Mr. Takubo has been expelled from Toyo University. The university has admitted this.
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The &quot;true face of Mr. Takubo,&quot; as revealed by a TV station employee, is as follows."></div>
<h2>&#8216;Diploma 19.2 Seconds&#8217; nominated for a buzzword award.</h2>
 Still, Mr. Takubo said
 &#8220;I mistakenly thought it was a graduation certificate.
 To top it all off, he showed the chairman and vice-chairman a glimpse of what he claimed was a &#8220;diploma. The whole thing took 19.2 seconds, and the word was even nominated for last year&#8217;s &#8220;Best Popular Word&#8221; award.
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 The focus of this year&#8217;s event is what exactly this &#8220;diploma&#8221; is, but as mentioned earlier, Mr. Takubo&#8217;s side has stubbornly refused to allow the prefectural police to seize it. If the &#8220;diploma&#8221; is a forgery, Mr. Takubo could be charged with forgery of a private document with a seal.
 A police official said
 The right of refusal of seizure applies only to &#8220;matters relating to another person&#8217;s secrets,&#8221; said a police official. Mr. Takubo brought it to the assembly and showed a glimpse of it for 19.2 seconds. It could be interpreted that the confidentiality has already been lost.
 Some have said, &#8220;It could be interpreted that the secrecy has already been lost.
 Either way, the environment surrounding Mr. Takubo remains harsh.
 After losing the mayoral election last December, he knew that an investigation by the authorities was imminent, but he probably did not expect it to be this big a deal. A sports newspaper reporter who covered the mayoral election said.
 He was in high spirits during the campaign. He didn&#8217;t dislike the fact that &#8216;diploma 19.2 seconds&#8217; was nominated for the Grand Prize for the most popular word. I think he has always been meek and likes to stand out.&#8221;
 Once after he was unsuccessful in his bid for the award.
 &#8220;I will no longer give interviews to the media.
 However, before his tongue had dried up, he appeared on the year-end special program of TBS&#8217;s &#8220;Sunday Japon.
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 When this site interviewed a TBS official, he said, &#8220;I thought he had a grudge against the media.
 I thought he had a grudge against the mass media, but he gave me a two-fold answer. During the election campaign, she said that she would be willing to work quietly in a coffee shop in her neighborhood. In fact, I&#8217;m sure there were offers.
 He revealed the other side of the story.
 The prefectural police&#8217;s investigation is likely to erase any such &#8220;blueprint.
 Local residents have a deep-rooted rejection of Mr. Takubo, who has stirred up trouble in the city government, and many are voicing their desire to get to the bottom of the situation. What will become of this rare &#8220;demo mayor&#8221;?

 Kyodo

 Maki Takubo, the former mayor of Ito City, became an "ordinary person" after losing a re-election. Her house was forcibly raided and five cardboard boxes were seized. ......

Former Mayor Maki Takubo&#8217;s &#8220;diploma&#8221; sealed, prefectural police outraged, &#8220;blueprint for becoming a celebrity&#8221; severed by arrest and indictment.

Former Mayor Maki Takubo’s “diploma” sealed, prefectural police outraged, “blueprint for becoming a celebrity” severed by arrest and indictment.

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