NHK Party Leader Tachibana Arrested On Defamation Charge; Allegedly Slandered Hyogo Prefectural Assembly Member

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:43 JST, November 10, 2025

NHK Party leader Takashi Tachibana, 58, has been arrested and sent to prosecutors on suspicion of slandering a deceased former member of the Hyogo prefectural assembly who was involved in investigating allegations of workplace harassment by Gov. Motohiko Saito.

The Hyogo prefectural police sent Tachibana to the Kobe District Public Prosecutors Office on Monday for allegedly defaming Hideaki Takeuchi, who died on Jan. 18 at the age of 50. Tachibana is accused of defaming Takeuchi in speeches and on social media.

The police said that they decided to arrest Tachibana due to the extremely serious nature of the case and the risk of him fleeing or destroying evidence.

It is rare for charges of defaming a deceased person to be filed.

The police have not said whether Tachibana has admitted or denied the allegations. According to investigative sources, however, Tachibana told police that he will “not argue about what he said.”

Tachibana is suspected of defaming Takeuchi with remarks he made during street speeches on Dec. 13 and 14 last year, saying that it was probably true that Takeuchi was being investigated by the police.

He also posted false statements on social media on Jan. 19 and 20, saying, “Takeuchi was continuously questioned by the police on a voluntary basis” and “he would have been arrested tomorrow,” thereby damaging Takeuchi’s reputation.

Takeuchi was a member of the prefectural assembly committee that investigated a case of workplace bullying and whistleblowing involving Saito, among other matters. Footage showing Takeuchi harshly questioning Saito at a committee meeting was shared on social media in October and November last year during the campaign period for the Nov. 17 Hyogo gubernatorial election, prompting a wave of abuse against Takeuchi.

Saito was ultimately reelected, and Takeuchi resigned for what he said were personal reasons the day after the election. Takeuchi later died in what is believed to have been a suicide.

The prefectural police began investigating the case after receiving a criminal complaint against Tachibana in June from Takeuchi’s wife, accusing him of defaming her late husband.

Defamation can be found as a criminal offence when statements are publicly made to damage a person’s reputation. Whether the statements are accurate is not at issue.

However, false statements must have been made for there to have been defamation of a deceased person. Some legal theories also require proof that the suspect was aware the statements were false in such a case.

Tachibana stated in a video posted on YouTube that he “received information [on Takeuchi] from a certain individual on the Line app” and there were “sufficient grounds to believe it is true.”

The prefectural police questioned Tachibana several times on a voluntary basis and investigated the person he cited as his source. They ultimately decided that Tachibana may have spread baseless claims.

According to Justice Ministry statistics, only two summary indictments for defamation against a deceased person were filed during the 10 years to 2024.

Tachibana recently expressed his intention to run for mayor of Ito, Shizuoka Prefecture, where scandal-hit Maki Takubo has been removed from that position. Campaigning for the Dec. 14 mayoral election will formally kick off on Dec. 7.

After Tachibana’s arrest, Takeuchi’s widow said at a press conference Sunday that the same thing must not happen again.

“I don’t want the kind of suffering we went through repeated,” she said.