SAITAMA (TR) – Earlier this month, Satoshi Nishizawa was elected to the prefectural assembly here despite his expulsion from the Democratic Party for the People the day before the poll. Nishizawa has since resigned from the assembly.
Tokyo Sports (Mar. 9) chronicles the background of the matter, which includes Nishizawa’s organizing of an orgy in 2016.
On March 8, Nishizawa took one of two seats in a by-election for the Saitama Prefectural Assembly (South 2nd District, Kawaguchi City). However, the day before, his endorsement by the Democratic Party for the People was revoked, forcing him to run as an independent.
That evening, Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, explained on X: “The Saitama Prefectural Federation has announced the revocation of the endorsement of candidate Satoshi Nishizawa and his subsequent expulsion from the party. The reason is that he concealed important facts that should have been disclosed when deciding on the endorsement.”
In 2018, Nishizawa was arrested for organizing an orgy involving a boy two years before. Nishizawa recruited participants via Twitter. He wrote, “Let’s have an orgy with male middle and high school students.”
“I have no recollection of this,” he said upon his arrest for the violating the Child Welfare Act.
“Completely unacceptable”
House of Representatives member Yoshihiro Suzuki represents the Saitama Prefectural Federation. He wrote on X, “Attempting to obtain party endorsement without disclosing information that should have been provided when applying for endorsement from the prefectural federation is a betrayal of the party’s trust in its candidates and is completely unacceptable,” said House of Representatives member Yoshihiro Suzuki.
Nishizawa worked for a major gas company. Starting in 2023, he served as secretary to Kiyoshi Ueda, the former governor of Saitama Prefecture and current House of Councillors member.
After being expelled from the party, Nishizawa explained on X, “The matter in question was a fine imposed more than seven years ago, and the effect of the sentence [5 years] has already expired. Once a sentence has expired, there is generally no legal obligation to list past criminal records in the ‘Awards and Punishments’ section of one’s resume.”
Although the election commission changed Nishizawa’s party affiliation from the Democratic Party for the People to independent, his posters at the campaign sites remained those of the Democratic Party for the People.
A political insider expressed anger: “Some people have already cast their votes early, and with the expulsion happening the day before, it’s questionable how much voters were able to know about the facts and circumstances. A quick internet search reveals articles about the arrest, so it seems there was a problem with the Democratic Party for the People’s background checks.”
Tamaki explained, “It’s not easy to ascertain facts that can only be known through the individual’s own declaration during the nomination process.” But he promised to make improvements. However, just two years ago, there was a similar controversy over a female candidate’s past that led to the revocation of her nomination. As a result, many are saying, “Here we go again.”
Nishizawa did not accept his certificate of election. Instead, he submitted his resignation as a prefectural assembly member through a representative to the Prefectural Assembly Secretariat. His resignation was accepted.
On March 9, he wrote on X that it was “not appropriate for me to continue serving as a member of assembly.”
