SHIZUOKA (TR) – Maki Takubo, the major of Ito City, last week announced her intentions to keep her post despite allegations of academic fraud, reports TV Asahi (Aug. 2).
On July 31, Takubo, 55, announced her intention to continue in office.
“I will devote my whole heart and soul to the cancellation of the new library construction plan, a major promise I made to the citizens,” she said. “And I will also devote my whole heart and soul to the complete cancellation of the Izu Kogen Mega Solar Project.”
In May, Takubo was elected as mayor. She is suspected of falsifying her academic background by claiming in a city magazine that she was a graduate of Toyo University when in fact she was expelled.
Takubo later said that she believed she had graduated. She also showed the city assembly speaker what she called a diploma. However, the authenticity of the document is in question.
A source close to Takubo tells TV Asahi that her continued tenure was expected. “I thought she wouldn’t resign at the end of the month,” says the source. “I have mixed feelings about her continuing. It’s not that I don’t want to support her, but I’m not sure what to do.”
Ito City has a population of approximately 65,000, many of whom are elderly. Tourism is the city’s main industry, but visitor numbers have fallen by 500,000 compared to 20 years ago.
As a result, challenges abound — but Takubo has strong support.
“Among the relatively high-income elderly people [in the area surrounding the proposed mega-solar project], she’s a heroine,” says Ito City-based journalist Yoshiaki Kiyo. “They’re treating her like Joan of Arc. She has a rock-solid support base that says, ‘We have to support Maki-chan.’ So she can be aggressive.”
The project includes the cutting down of the forests of Izu Kogen to install solar panels on the land. However, construction was halted in 2019, making Takubo’s stance performative, says Kiyo.
“The mega-solar project issue has been largely resolved in Ito City,” says Kito. “All that remains is the legal litigation, so even if Takubo says she’ll do something as mayor, it’s all just performance.”
