Defeated Japan election candidate held over promising to pay campaign staff

Tokyo police on Saturday arrested a 66-year-old doctor who ran unsuccessfully in last month’s general election as an independent, on suspicion he promised to pay campaign staff, a violation of the election law.
The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Masafumi Tabuchi, who contested the Tokyo No. 26 constituency in the election for the House of Representatives, as well as 37-year-old Shigeru Kobayashi, who managed the candidate’s campaign staff.
The two allegedly promised four people in their 20s to 30s in early October to pay ¥1,500 per hour as remuneration for election campaign work.
The public offices election law bans, in principle, payments to campaign staff as well as promising to do so. According to the police, Tabuchi and Kobayashi verbally promised remuneration but did not actually make payments.
Around 30 people, including employees of a hospital where Tabuchi works and acquaintances of Kobayashi, were members of the campaign. They distributed leaflets on the street.
Tabuchi’s campaign stirred up controversy because the staff included a woman in revealing clothing, whose photographs were posted on social media by his camp.
Tokyo police searched Tabuchi’s hospital and other locations earlier this month.
Tabuchi ran as an independent in the April 2016 by-election in Kyoto Prefecture’s No. 3 constituency.
He then ran for a proportional representation seat as an official candidate of the now-defunct Kibo no To (Party of Hope) in the 2017 Lower House general election and for the Tokyo No. 5 constituency seat with the endorsement of Nippon Ishin no Kai in the 2021 Lower House poll.
He also ran to become mayor of Tokyo’s Meguro Ward as Nippon Ishin’s candidate in April 2020.
He lost all these elections.