Shocking Details of the “Muddled Adultery Trial” of Ebina’s Beautiful City Council Member

I have spent all my life trying to be with her, and I have supported her activities as a council member with this in mind, so I am very confused by the sudden turn of events, and I myself am still in a state of emotional turmoil. ……

A man in his 40s (“Mr. A”), standing in the courtroom of the Yokohama District Court, expressed his sincere feelings.

The person Mr. A refers to as “his girlfriend” is Toshiko Tachi, 49, an incumbent city council member of Ebina, a city famous for its service areas. Last September, this magazine reported that an “adultery trial” had broken out against Tachi, and the verdict in the trial came down in June of this year.

It all started in July of last year, when Mr. A, a former boyfriend, filed a lawsuit against Tachi, claiming that he had been unfaithful to the city councilor. Mr. A filed a lawsuit against Mr. Tachi, claiming that he was in a common-law marriage with Mr. Tachi and that Mr. Tachi was cuckolded by Mr. A. Mr. A demanded 5.5 million yen in alimony.

Tachi, on the other hand, admitted that he and Mr. A were in a relationship, but he countered that he started dating Mr. Koizumi only after he and Mr. A broke up. He also said, “I did not promise to register with (Mr. A), and I did not affix my seal to the marriage certificate. Since we are not in a common-law relationship, there is no evidence of adultery.’ From the outset, the trial appeared to be a muddled affair.

Tachi is a “rikejo” councilor who studied aerospace engineering at Tokai University. On the other hand, Koizumi is a former video game scenario writer.

Mr. Tachi and Mr. A met back in 2004. They met at a marriage activity party and later developed a relationship. At the time, Mr. A had a wife of nine years with whom he had been living apart, and he was unable to register his marriage until the divorce was finalized, but he and Mr. Tachi wrote their names and affixed their seals to the marriage certificate as a sign of their commitment. In the witness box, he had a friend of Mr. Tachi’s write his name. Later, Mr. Tachi ran for the city council of Ebina City in November ’19. After winning the election, Mr. A supported her political activities as a treasurer, preparing income and expenditure reports, etc.,” said a source in Kanagawa Prefecture.

In February 2008, three months after Tachi’s election, Mr. A divorced his ex-wife. He tried to officially enroll in marriage with Tachi, but she told him that she wanted him to wait until the election in two years’ time because it would be bad form for her as a council member to publicize her relationship with a man who had just divorced. However, in April of last year, Tachi suddenly broke up with her.

Mr. A told Mr. Tachi that he did not want to end the relationship, and she responded, “I need more time. However, Mr. A grew tired of Mr. Tachi’s refusal to give a concrete answer, and in mid-May of last year, he went to her home in Ebina City. When Mr. A pointed out that they had been unfaithful to each other, Mr. Tachi denied that they were in a relationship, saying that they were not in a common-law marriage, and an argument ensued. The argument turned into an uproar and the police were dispatched to the scene.

Thus, Mr. A decided to file a lawsuit.

The scene described at the beginning of this article is from the “personal examination” held in March of this year during the “adultery trial. The focus of the trial was whether or not Mr. A and Mr. Tachi were in a common-law marriage, and on the same day as Mr. A’s “personal examination,” Mr. Tachi also appeared in court, making this the first direct confrontation between the two.

Mr. A claimed that a common-law marriage had been established, citing the fact that he had signed the marriage certificate even though he had not yet submitted it, that he had given Mr. Tachi a wedding ring that his parents had been wearing, and that he had reported the incident to his parents after Mr. A’s divorce was finalized. Tachi refuted this claim, saying that he borrowed the wedding ring from Mr. A and was unaware that it belonged to his parents. He added, “Even after Mr. A’s divorce, we never discussed marriage. However, when the marriage certificate was discussed, he was conspicuously brusque throughout the proceedings.

The following are excerpts from the courtroom scene.

Counsel for the attorney: “What do you remember about the marriage certificate?”

City Councilor Tachi: “I almost don’t remember a little bit about this, so I don’t remember. I don’t remember.”

Attorney for the attorney: “You don’t even remember the scene where you signed and sealed it?”

City Councilor Tachi: “I don’t remember that at all. I vaguely remember that it was so when I was told.

Lawyer: “Are you sure it was your signature?”

City Councilor Tachi: “I just think, hey, there, when, umm…”

He then spoke candidly about his encounter with Mr. Koizumi and his complicated love affair that led to his decision to part ways with Mr. A.

Lawyer: “When did you meet Mr. Koizumi?”

City Councilor Tachi: “It’s not clear when we met, but we are members of the same party, so I think we met somewhere when we started working for the party before I ran for office.”

Lawyer “When was that?”

City Councilor Tachi: “I think we already recognized each other when we were helping each other during the last House of Councilors election.”

Lawyer “When did you two start going out together?

City Councilor Tachi: “Since that time, we have been going to various places together with party members to attend party study meetings, etc.”

Lawyer “When did you decide to part ways with Mr. A?”

Tachi: “He blames me for everything, and I think that’s what’s wrong with him. When I realized that he would probably continue to blame me for everything that goes wrong in his life, I decided that I couldn’t do this anymore and that I had to end it.

In June of this year, the “adultery trial” reached the day of judgment. How will the verdict turn out?

Based on the evidence in the marriage certificate, the Yokohama District Court ruled that it was reasonable to assume that Mr. A and Mr. Tachi were engaged to be married and that Koizumi’s presence was a factor in Mr. A’s breakup. On the other hand, the court also ordered Mr. A to pay 55,000 yen to Mr. Tachi, pointing out that the incident of entering Mr. Tachi’s house with a duplicate key and running into Mr. Koizumi was an illegal act. The court ordered Mr. A to pay 55,000 yen.

Following the court decision, Mr. Tachi appealed the case. The “adultery trial” by the incumbent councilor was carried over to the second round.