静岡しずおか伊東いとう市長しちょうが市議会しぎかいを解散かいさん40日よんじゅうにち以内いないに市議しぎ選せんへ

There were suspicions of falsifying academic credentials, and after receiving a vote of no confidence from the city council, Maki Takubo, the mayor of Ito City in Shizuoka Prefecture, dissolved the city council on the morning of the 10th.

A city council election will be held within 40 days.

In Ito City, turmoil in the city administration continues over suspicions that Mayor Takubo falsified his academic background. On the 1st of this month, a vote of no confidence against the mayor was unanimously passed at the regular city council meeting.

In response to this, based on the provisions of the Local Autonomy Act, the mayor was required to choose by the 11th whether to dissolve the city council or to resign/forfeit his position. Mayor Takubo submitted a notice to the chairperson to dissolve the city council around 10 a.m. on the 10th.

The mayor read aloud a document stating, In accordance with the provisions of the Local Autonomy Act, I hereby notify you that the assembly will be dissolved on September 10, 2025, handed it to the chairperson, and then left the room.

The city council will be dissolved as of the 10th, and a city council election will be held within 40 days.

Mayor Takubo has refused to appear for witness questioning and to submit the documents claimed to be a diploma to the city council’s Article 100 committee. As a result, he has been criminally accused by the city council on suspicion of violating the Local Autonomy Act. In addition, a criminal complaint has been filed with the police on suspicion of using a forged private document with a seal, regarding the fact that he showed the documents claimed to be a diploma to the council chairman and others.

Mayor Takubo: The council has abandoned deliberation; we should seek a broad mandate from the citizens. After dissolving the city council, Mayor Takubo of Ito City responded to interviews from various media outlets, saying, Since a vote of no confidence was passed on the first day of the regular city council meeting in September, all subsequent deliberations have stopped, and currently, the council is not in session.

The regular city council meeting is a very important session where the final accounts of last years projects are settled, and the supplementary budget proposal was also just waiting to be discussed.

I must say that I am deeply disappointed that the assembly did not reach the conclusion of voting on my no-confidence motion on the final day after these important matters had been safely deliberated.

Therefore, today I have come to report to the chairperson with the conclusion that we will dissolve the assembly.

I am fully aware that there are demands from the assembly for my resignation, and I take that responsibility very seriously. However, given the current situation, I have calmly accepted as fact that crucial deliberations and decisions of the assembly, which are extremely important for city administration and citizens lives, were abandoned on the first day of the session. I have come to the conclusion that we should once again seek a mandate from the citizens at large.

I also believe that if a no-confidence motion had been submitted in the final stage of the parliament, there might have been other options.

There were two options: dissolution and resignation, and it was not the case that we had a predetermined conclusion from the beginning.

I was thinking of making a decision while observing the situation of the September assembly, he said.

Former Chairman: Dissolution without just cause is a waste of time and money. Following the dissolution of the city council, former chairman of the Ito City Council, Hiromichi Nakajima, stated, Regarding this dissolution without just cause, all we feel right now is anger.

I really feel like its such a waste of time and money.

If the stagnation of city administration continues as it is, citizens will continue to experience concern and inconvenience.

We would like to continue fighting for a bright future for Ito, he said.

Furthermore, former Vice Chairman Takahiro Aoki said, It is unacceptable for 64,000 citizens to suffer, feel anxious, or have various concerns just because of one person.

It might not be possible to prepare next years initial budget in time, and rather than prioritizing the lives of 64,000 citizens, you’re choosing to spend 45 million yen—money that everyone has worked hard to earn—on holding an election. This gives the impression that you’re putting yourself first, rather than the citizens.