The following is from the subscription-only monthly magazine Themis, which arrived at our house on December 1st.
This month's issue has more articles that properly report on matters that the mainstream media never report on than usual.
It is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but also for people worldwide.
Japan Conservative Party: Criticism mounts for Naoki Hyakuta
Despite having three Diet members, he is locked in a battle with You Iiyama
A storm of criticism is overshadowing the party's achievement of official recognition.
The Japan Conservative Party, launched last autumn by author Hyakuta Naoki (68), won three seats in the House of Representatives election. However, the party's leader, Hyakuta, and its secretary-general, Arimoto Kaori, have been the target of criticism.
In the recent House of Representatives election, the Japan Conservative Party helped former Nagoya mayor Kawamura Takashi win a seat in the single-seat constituency for Aichi 1st district.
It also helped three other people win seats: Takeue Hiroko, a former Aichi Prefectural Assembly member, in the proportional representation Tokai block, and Shimada Yoichi, a professor emeritus at Fukui Prefectural University, in the proportional representation Kinki block.
Furthermore, with the number of votes for proportional representation exceeding 1.15 million, which is more than 2% of the total, the party has met the requirements for a political party under the Public Offices Election Law.
A political insider said, "Hyakuta is known for his close relationship with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and he and journalist Arimoto have been called the 'Abe Cheer Squad,' but their anger exploded when the LDP passed the LGBT Understanding Promotion Act last June. It led to the launch of a new political party. In the House of Representatives by-election in the 15th constituency of Tokyo in April this year, she ran a candidate, Ms. Akari Iiyama, a researcher of Islamic thought. Although she lost, she gained 24,000 votes, making the name of the Japan Conservative Party known throughout the country."
However, during the election, there was persistent election interference by the leader and executives of the political group "Tsubasa no To" against Iiyama, and she suffered from "insomnia and tinnitus."
The Tsubasa no To (Wings Party) repeatedly engaged in acts of interference that were dangerous to her mental and physical health, such as following her campaign car and shouting obscene words during her speeches.
After the election, the Japan Conservative Party announced that Iiyama would step down as head of the Tokyo 15th District branch to "recover from her illness."
However, just before the recent House of Representatives election, Iiyama suddenly began criticizing the Japan Conservative Party on YouTube.
During the by-election period, she pointed out to Hyakuta and Arimoto that their administrative work was sloppy and their accounting procedures were unclear. Still, the two people resented her for this, and eventually, she was excluded from the party.
When Iiyama consulted Hyakuta about the Tsubasa no To's interference with the election, Hyakuta initially said, "I'll go out and stop them."
Still, when they actually showed up, he ran away.
Katsuhiko Umehara, a former METI bureaucrat and former mayor of Sendai City, said to be Iiyama's "bodyguard," could also not do anything and just stood around looking worried.
Accused of making a big mistake and losing his qualifications
When they asked Ms. Iiyama to run, Hyakuta and Arimoto said, "You are perfect regarding ideology and character. You are the only one."
Still, when Ms. Iiyama actually decided to run, they treated her like a rag.
Mr. Hyakuta is said to have said things like, "The party will pay the 3 million yen deposit, but Ms. Iiyama, you have to pay some too if you're serious about this," and urged her to pay several million yen.
Mr. Hyakuta and Ms. Arimoto have their own YouTube channels, but their vast profits do not go into the party's coffers but into their own pockets.
Also, when donating to a political party, you would naturally expect to be able to claim a deduction, but in some cases, the Japan Conservative Party was sloppy with its accounting and did not issue proper receipts.
Ms. Iiyama has declared that she will continue to make accusations on her own YouTube channel, saying, "These people, who do not protect their most important allies, have no right to call themselves the Japan Conservative Party."
In the midst of this, when the topic of countermeasures against the declining birthrate came up on a YouTube program, Hyakuta pointed out that "the only way is to change the social structure" and made comments such as "women shouldn't be allowed to go to university from the age of 18", "if you're single after the age of 25, you should be made to be unable to get married for the rest of your life", and "if you're over 30, you should have your uterus removed".
It was not widely reported in Japan, but it was commonly reported in more than 30 countries overseas.
It is up to him to use this kind of marketing strategy, but he should not be talking about politics.
The media promoting him should also seriously reflect on their actions!
