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No matter how much someone disagrees with a person’s words or actions, it is not acceptable to try to suppress that person with violence. Resolving conflicts of opinion through discussion is a core element of democracy.
Takashi Tachibana, the leader of the political group NHK Party, was attacked with a “nata” hatchet-like tool by a man in front of the Finance Ministry in the Kasumigaseki district of Tokyo on Friday. He suffered a cut to the head and was taken to a hospital, but it does not seem to be life-threatening. The Metropolitan Police Department arrested the man on the spot, on suspicion of attempted murder.
The man was quoted as telling investigators, “I harbored a desire to kill [Tachibana] as I learned from the news about the suicide of a Hyogo prefectural assembly member,” and “I did it because he was the kind of person who drove the assembly member to commit suicide.”
Tachibana is running in the Chiba gubernatorial election set for Sunday. He had announced on social media that he would give a speech near the ministry on the day when the attack occurred.
It appears that the man joined the line to take a photo with Tachibana, and when his turn came, he suddenly attacked Tachibana. As the man was carrying a nata, the attack is likely to have been premeditated.
Last autumn, Tachibana also ran in the Hyogo gubernatorial election, in which Gov. Motohiko Saito was reelected. At that time, Tachibana released a video showing a document that criticized a former prefectural assembly member — who was a member of the so-called Article 100 Committee and pursuing harassment allegations against Saito — for being the “mastermind” who framed the governor to bring him down.
The document was provided to Tachibana by a prefectural assembly member who belonged to the Japan Innovation Party at that time.
The former prefectural assembly member, who was severely defamed on social media, died in January this year. He is believed to have committed suicide.
Even after the former prefectural assembly member died, Tachibana continued to make statements, such as, “He was going to be arrested,” prompting the prefectural police chief to deny the allegation as “completely groundless.”
In the latest Tokyo gubernatorial election, the NHK Party also caused problems, such as allowing posters advertising an adult entertainment business and other unrelated subjects to be put on official election signboards, by in effect selling its right to display campaign posters. Tachibana’s acts — including waging so-called “two-horsepower campaigning” in which he ran for office to help a certain candidate be elected — seem to mock elections by taking advantage of legal loopholes.
It is undeniable that Tachibana’s provocative words and actions incited unnecessary confrontation and led to violence. Nevertheless, violence must never be a solution.
A situation has arisen mainly on social media in which people verbally abuse others whose principles and views differ from theirs and refuse to listen to different opinions. This is a dangerous trend that will deepen the divisions in society.
Politicians should have the ability to coordinate such conflicts of opinion through discussion. When they do so, discussing an issue based on facts is the most important element. If they spread unverified information and only deny opponents, society will fall into further disarray.
