NHK Party suddenly declares dormancy — The motives behind defendant Takashi Tachibana

Decline in Party Fee Revenue from Withdrawals

Late on the night of March 3, the official website of the “NHK Kara Kokumin wo Mamoru To” (“Party to Protect the People from NHK”) announced the suspension of activity:

“From Party Leader Takashi Tachibana (58), the policy of party dormancy was indicated last week on Friday, February 27.”

The announcement also stated that the “(NHK) Repel App” and party-related websites would have their servers gradually shut down. It explained:

“Since the party leader is currently detained in a detention facility, direct communication is not possible. His intentions have been conveyed as much as possible in writing via his lawyers, and this decision is based on that information. Party activities will be dormant, and at this point, there is no prospect for resumption.”

Since there is no timeline for resumption, it can be seen as an indefinite suspension. The same content had already been posted on X before the website announcement, and on March 2, the news section inside the “Repel App” contained even more detailed information.

Regarding the background for the dormancy decision, the announcement explained:

“Since the party leader’s detention, party fee revenue from withdrawals has decreased, and with the announcement of the NHK Party’s private reorganization, it has become difficult to maintain fixed costs, including the app’s maintenance. Additionally:

・Authentication using devices owned by the party leader, necessary for app updates, cannot be performed
・If a malfunction occurs, distribution of fixes cannot be carried out”

In other words, the reasons appear to be financial difficulties and the fact that Tachibana’s devices—such as smartphones or computers—were seized by authorities, making app-related work impossible. These two factors led to the decision.

It’s safe even if he’s released appeal

Also, trying to open the “Call Center” or “Other Inquiries” pages on the website leads to a message saying:

“The page you are looking for cannot be found.”

This has caused confusion among supporters who, at the urging of the NHK Party, had withheld NHK reception fees.

However, many people are questioning this dormancy declaration. One of them is Kosuke Nishiwaki, former head of the Legal Department at TV Asahi.

In an interview with the author, Nishiwaki said:

“If it were just a matter of lacking funds or the party leader’s devices being unusable, it would have been enough to simply stop the app and the website. Why deliberately announce a dormancy of the party and suspend organizational activities? One possibility is that declaring the party dormant could have some connection to Tachibana’s criminal case.

By showing that the party is dormant and that the people or organizations acting under Tachibana’s instructions have stopped, it could be used as part of the argument in a bail request to indicate, ‘It’s safe to release Tachibana.’ That alone doesn’t guarantee bail, but having such a point is better than not having it at all.”

The NHK Party has no members in the National Diet, but several local assembly members still belong to it. Even if the party is dormant, they continue to act in line with the NHK Party’s policies.

“The key point is whether the NHK Party’s activities will actually stop going forward. Some insiders say, ‘Let’s wait for them to wake from hibernation,’ so it’s possible that once Tachibana is released, things will go back to the way they were. I think it’s necessary to carefully assess the true intention behind this dormancy,” Nishiwaki said.

Complacency is still not an option—this situation is far from over.