The Collaborative Party
みんなでつくる党
Min'na de tsukuru tō
LeaderDisputed
Between Ayaka Otsu and Takashi Tachibana
Secretary-GeneralDisputed
Between Satoshi Hamada and Ryota Akegato, Natsuki Matsumoto
FounderTakashi Tachibana
Founded17 June 2013 (17 June 2013)
HeadquartersOtsu wing
16-005 Kandanishiki-machi, Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0054, Japan[1]
Tachibana wing
1799-19 Omuro, Kashiwa, Chiba 277-0813, Japan
IdeologyTachibana wing
Populism[2]
Direct democracy[3]
Anti-communism[4]
Single issue politics:
Political positionRight-wing[6]
SloganOtsu wing
"共に築く、多彩な未来へ" [7]
"Tomoni kizuku, tasaina mirai e
(Build together, towards a colorful future")
Tachibana wing
"NHKをぶっ壊す！"[8]
"NHK o bukkowasu!"
("Destroy NHK!")
Councillors
2 / 248
Representatives
0 / 465
Prefectural assembly members
0 / 2,598
Municipal assembly members
2 / 29,608
Website
Otsu wing
www.mintsuku.org
Tachibana wing
www.syoha.jp

The Collaborative Party (Japanese: みんなでつくる党, Min'na de tsukuru tō, lit. 'A party created by everyone'), abbreviated as Mintsuku (みんつく),[9] also known as The Party to Protect the People from NHK (NHKから国民を守る党), abbreviated as the NHK Party (NHK党)[10][11] is a populist[2] and right-wing[6] political party in Japan founded in 2013 by activist Takashi Tachibana, who led the party until stepping down in March 2023[12] and becoming the disputed leader again a month later, in April 2023.[13] The party's original goal was to oppose the license fees for the national broadcasting organization NHK, revising the 1950 Broadcasting Law to scramble NHK's broadcast signal, which would mean that only those who watch NHK pay for it. The party's policies have since expanded to cover other issues, including lower taxes, increasing military defense capability, and reaching energy independence through nuclear energy.[14]

The party has been referred to by some commentators and political scientists as a fringe or joke party, despite having seen occasional success in national elections.[15][16] Its candidates and officeholders, who are often YouTubers or other Internet celebrities, have been frequent sources of controversy.[17][18] The party changed its name several times, with its most recent change in November 2023.[19]

The party is currently in a leadership dispute between Tachibana and Ayaka Otsu since April 2023. As of November 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications recognizes Otsu as the sole leader of the party.[20][21] Despite this, most of the party defected and switched allegiance to Tachibana, resulting in a deadlock where Otsu is the de jure leader while Tachibana is the de facto leader.[22]

History

Old party logo as the NHK Party, also the current logo under the Tachibana faction

As the NHK Party

The founder of the party, Takashi Tachibana, is a former employee of Japan's national public broadcasting organization NHK. He resigned from his position in the accounting department at NHK after having leaked internal corruption to weekly magazine Shūkan Bunshun in 2005. In 2012, he founded the "Tachibana one-man broadcasting station", a YouTube channel that vowed to fight against NHK.[23] In 2013, this evolved into The Party to Protect the People from NHK. Tachibana used YouTube to bypass the mass media, which would not cover his activism. Over the years, he used YouTube to gain multiple local council seats. In 2019, the party won its first seat in the National Diet in the 2019 House of Councillors election.[23] The party also gained a seat in the House of Representatives when Hodaka Maruyama joined the party on 29 July 2019.[23]

The party mainly exists to counter alleged bad behaviour by NHK license fee money collectors,[24][25] who Tachibana claims have connections to the yakuza.[23] The party issues a special sticker that would allegedly protect citizen's properties and residences from these collectors and has a call center to assist people in avoid paying the license fee.[23] While it is required by law to make a contract with NHK and pay if one owns a device capable of receiving the NHK signal (for example, a regular TV), the law does not impose any punishment for nonpayment of the license fee.[23] Lacking a means of criminal prosecution, Tachibana claims that NHK has resorted to using debt collectors to pressure people for payment.

The rise of the party is described as part of rising distrust of the mass media in Japan by researcher Max Guerrera-Sapone.[23]

As Seijika Joshi 48 Party and leadership dispute

Old party logo as Seijika Joshi 48 Party

YouTuber Yoshikazu Higashitani, known as his YouTube alias GaaSyy, was elected in the 2022 House of Councillors election, expanding the party's seats in the upper house to 2. Higashitani was expelled 8 months later in March 2023 for not attending any sessions, reputedly due to his fear of being arrested on grounds of alleged fraud and defamation against celebrities if he were to visit Japan, as he was residing in the United Arab Emirates for the entirety of his term.[26] Due to this, Tachibana would resign as the party's leader on a press conference, where he announced former child actress Ayaka Otsu as his successor, and the rebranding of the party to Seijika Joshi 48 tō (政治家女子48党, Politician Girls 48 Party).[27]

A month later on 7 April 2023, Tachibana held a press conference and announced that Otsu had been expelled from the party on the previous day, stating that Otsu "posed a risk of dissolving the party." Tachibana then announced that he would return to the position of party leader. In response, Otsu held her own press conference, denying her resignation which split the party between the Otsu wing and the Tachibana wing.[28][29][30] On the same day, the Tachibana wing submitted a notification to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) through the Chiba Prefectural Election Commission to make the leadership change official, but declined to do so, recognizing Otsu as the sole leader of the party.[20][31]

The Tachibana wing attempted to revert the party to its old identity, sending a request to the Central Election Management Board that the party would change its name to "The Party to Protect the People from NHK" (NHKから国民を守る党). However, this was rejected.[32] On 10 August 2023, the 2 members of the party in the House of Councilors submitted a notification to the House of Councilors Secretariat, changing the name of their parliamentary group to "The Party to Protect the People from NHK" (NHKから国民を守る党), signifying their support for Tachibana.[33] However, this notification was rejected 3 months later on 14 November by the MIC.[21]

As The Collaborative Party

On 6 November 2023, Otsu held a press conference and announced the change of the party's name to "The Collaborative Party" (みんなでつくる党).[34] The Tachibana wing denied the name changing, stating that that "Otsu has no right to represent the party.''[35] However, the MIC once again ruled in favor of the Otsu wing, accepting the name change on 14 November.[21]

Party name history

The party was formed as the NHK License Fee Non-Payment Party (NHK受信料不払い党, NHK jushinryō fubarai tō) on 17 June 2013, but changed its name a month later on 23 July 2013 to The Party to Protect the People from NHK (NHKから国民を守る党, NHK kara kokumin o mamoru tō), commonly shortened to N-Koku Party (N国党) or just N-Koku.

Its name was again changed in January 2021 to The Party to Protect our People from NHK (NHKから自国民を守る党, NHK kara jikokumin o mamoru tō), officially abbreviated to NHK Party (NHK党). This change, the addition of the character 自 (ji, our) before 国民 (kokumin, people/citizen) did not alter the meaning of the party's name, but was intended to allow the party to use the official abbreviation Jimintō (自民党), that of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.[36] This was rejected by the Internal Affairs Ministry, however, and so the abbreviation was instead changed to "NHK Party".[37] The party's official website used the English name "The Party to Protect Citizens from NHK",[38] but the English-speaking press has preferred the translation "The Party to Protect the People from NHK".

The party again changed its name to The Party that Teaches How to Not Pay the NHK License Fee (NHK受信料を支払わない方法を教える党, NHK jushinryō o shiharawanai hōhō o oshieru tō) on 5 February 2021, and announced that it intended to keep changing its name in future, while maintaining the "NHK Party" short form as the party's common name.[39][40]

On 17 May 2021, the party changed its name to The Party to Protect People from Old Political Parties (古い政党から国民を守る党, furui seitō kara kokumin o mamoru tō).[41][42]

On 28 June 2021, the party changed its name to Storm Party (嵐の党).

On 21 July 2021, the party changed its name to The party fighting against NHK in the trial for violating Article 72 of the Attorney Act (NHKと裁判してる党弁護士法72条違反で).

On 20 January 2022, the party changed its name again to The party that protects those who do not pay the NHK license fee (NHK 受信料を支払わない国民を守る党).

On 25 April 2022, the party again changed its name to NHK Party (NHK党), with its self-abbreviation being "NHK".

On 8 March 2023, it was announced that the party would rebrand as Seijika Joshi 48 Party (政治家女子48党).[43] In the ensuing leadership dispute between Tachibana and Otsu, the Tachibana wing attempted to change the party's name to The Party to Protect the People from NHK (NHKから国民を守る党), but was rejected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC).[32] On 6 November 2023, the Otsu-wing announced the rebranding of the party to The Collaborative Party (みんなでつくる党). The changed was approved by the MIC.[34]

Party name Time
English Japanese Start End
NHK License Fee Nonpayment Party NHK受信料不払い党 2013-06-17 2013-07-23
The Party to Protect the People from NHK NHKから国民を守る党 2013-07-23 2020-12-21
The Party to Protect our People from NHK NHKから自国民を守る党 2020-12-21 2021-02-05
The Party That Teaches How to Not Pay the NHK License Fee NHK受信料を支払わない方法を教える党 2021-02-05 2021-05-17
The Party to Protect People from Old Political Parties[44] 古い政党から国民を守る党 2021-05-17 2021-06-28
Storm Party 嵐の党 2021-06-28 2021-07-21
The party fighting against NHK in the trial for violating Article 72 of the Attorney Act[45] NHKと裁判してる党弁護士法72条違反で 2021-07-21 2022-01-20
The party that protects those who do not pay the NHK license fee NHK受信料を支払わない国民を守る党 2022-01-20 2022-04-25
NHK Party NHK党 2022-04-25 2023-03-08
Politician Girls 48 Party 政治家女子48党 2023-03-08 2023-11-06
The Collaborative Party みんなでつくる党 2023-11-06 present

Leadership

Otsu wing

[9]

Position Name
Leader Ayaka Otsu
Secretary-General Ryota Akegato
Natsuki Matsumoto
Auditor Naoki Miyagawa

Tachibana wing[46]

Position Name
Leader Takashi Tachibana
Deputy leader Hodaka Maruyama
Secretary-General Satoshi Hamada

List of leaders

No. Name
(Birth–death)		 Constituency / title Term of office Election results Image Prime Minister (term)
Took office Left office
1 Takashi Tachibana (b. 1967) Councillor for Proportional
(2019)		 17 June 2013 8 March 2023 N/A S. Abe 2012–2020
Suga 2020–21
Kishida 2021–present
2 Ayaka Otsu (b. 1992) N/A 8 March 2023 Incumbent N/A

Election results

House of Representatives

House of Representatives
Election Leader Seats Position Constituency votes PR Block votes Status
No. ± Share Number  % Number  %
2021 Takashi Tachibana
0 / 465
 0% 150,542 0.26% 796,788 1.39% Extra-parliamentary

House of Councillors

House of Councillors
Election Leader Seats Position Constituency Party list Status
Won ± Share Total[lower-alpha 1] Number  % Number  %
2019 Takashi Tachibana
1 / 124
 0.8%
1 / 245
 9th 1,521,344 3.02% 987,885 1.97% Opposition
2022
1 / 125
 0.8%
2 / 248
 Increase 8th 1,106,508 2.08% 1,253,872 2.36% Opposition

Gubernatorial

Tokyo

Election Candidate Result
Votes  %
2016 Takashi Tachibana Lost 27,242 0.42
2022 Lost 43,912 0.72

Notes

  1. ↑ The Upper house is split in two classes, one elected every three years.

References

  1. ↑ "党概要 ・ 基本情報".
  2. 1 2 Shiromoto, Koji (10 August 2019). "7 winners and losers from a deeply ambiguous Japanese election". McGill International Review. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  3. ↑ "N国・立花氏、丸山議員に入党呼びかける考え 比例当確". 朝日新聞 (in Japanese). 2019-07-22.
  4. ↑ "Ｎ党ｖｓ共産党、浜田氏「共産の非合法化は合理的」". Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). 6 March 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  5. ↑ "N国党台頭で話題沸騰する｢NHK受信料｣の現実" (in Japanese). Toyo Keizai. 2019-08-10.
  6. 1 2 Mizushima, Jiro (2022-07-19). "ポピュリズムが支持される理由". Seiji Premier (in Japanese). Mainichi Shimbun. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  7. ↑ "「みんなでつくる党」". 28 November 2023.
  8. ↑ "「NHKから国民を守る党 」". 28 November 2023.
  9. 1 2 "党概要 ・ 基本情報 | みんなでつくる党". mintsuku.org. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  10. ↑ "Anti-NHK party head convicted for threats to leak subscriber info online". Mainichi Daily News. January 20, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Anti-NHK Party Head Accused of Improper Info Acquisition". Jiji Press.
  12. ↑ "ＮＨＫ党、「政治家女子４８党」に党名変更を発表…立花党首が辞任し大津綾香氏が後任に". 読売新聞オンライン (in Japanese). 2023-03-08. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  13. ↑ "旧Ｎ党、突然代表解任で抗争 ＬＩＮＥ暴露の大津綾香党首を交代と 大津氏は抵抗姿勢 立花氏「証拠動画」提示/デイリースポーツ online". デイリースポーツ online (in Japanese). 2023-06-19. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  14. ↑ https://www.syoha.jp/%E5%9F%BA%E6%9C%AC%E6%94%BF%E7%AD%96/
  15. ↑ "YouTube and Japan's New Political Underground: The Rise and Decline of The Party to Protect the People From NHK". The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
  16. ↑ "Shinzo Abe's Death Highlights Fringe Japan Political Party That Criticized Him". Bloomberg.com. 2022-07-09. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
  17. ↑ "GaaSyy: Japan YouTuber arrested over celebrity threats". BBC News. 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  18. ↑ "GaaSyy: Japan YouTuber MP expelled for never going to work". BBC News. 2023-03-14. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  19. ↑ "政治家女子48党が「みんなでつくる党」に党名変更 略称「みんつく」 総務省が受理". テレ朝news (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  20. 1 2 "【1ページ目】斉藤健一郎氏への代表変更届を法務局が拒否「大津綾香氏のサインがない」【政女党お家騒動】". 東スポWEB (in Japanese). 2023-06-09. Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  21. 1 2 3 "政女党が「みんなでつくる党」に ９回目の名称変更". 産経ニュース (in Japanese). 2023-11-14. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  22. ↑ "党役員". NHKをぶっ壊す！ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-06-19.
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Guerrera-Sapone, Max (15 January 2021). "YouTube and Japan's New Political Underground: The Rise and Decline of The Party to Protect the People From NHK". The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus.
  24. ↑ ""NHK Fee Collector Leaves Note Threatening Impending "Crackdown"". GaijinPot Blog. 26 February 2019.
  25. ↑ "NHK fee collector leaves threatening notes on people's doorsteps". Japan Today. Retrieved 2019-07-30.
  26. ↑ "GaaSyy: Japan YouTuber MP expelled for never going to work". BBC News. 14 March 2023.
  27. ↑ "NHK Party leader to step down over YouTuber member's absence from Japan's Diet". Mainichi Daily News. 2023-03-08. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  28. ↑ "政治家女子48党わずか１カ月で空中分解 大津党首は除名処分も認めず、新党首に立花氏復帰 - 社会 : 日刊スポーツ". nikkansports.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  29. ↑ "◎政女党、立花氏が「党首就任」＝大津氏を除名、主張食い違いも". 時事通信ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  30. ↑ "政治家女子48党、人事で対立 「党首交代」食い違い". 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  31. ↑ "党首は誰? 政治家女子48、交付金の行方は 「お家騒動」は法廷に：朝日新聞デジタル". 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). 2023-04-27. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  32. 1 2 "政治家女子４８党の党名変更認めず 中央選管「届け出に疑義」". 産経ニュース (in Japanese). 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  33. ↑ "政女党が「NHKから国民を守る党」に 参院会派名を変更". 毎日新聞 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  34. 1 2 慎平, 奥原 (2023-11-06). "政女党から「みんなでつくる党」 党名変更９回目 大津氏「もう変えない」〝炎上政党〟脱却アピール". 産経ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  35. ↑ 慎平, 奥原 (2023-11-08). "政女党の立花孝志氏 党名変更発表の大津綾香氏に反論 「代表権はない」". 産経ニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  36. ↑ "N国が申請した略称「自民党」認めず 中央選管「混乱もたらす」". Sankei News (in Japanese). 2020-12-22. Retrieved 2020-12-25.
  37. ↑ "第3回中央選挙管理会において決定された事項". Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. 2020-12-22. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  38. ↑ "NHKをぶっ壊す！". NHKから自国民を守る党 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-12-28.
  39. ↑ "N国が党名変更 略称「NHK党」に". Nikkei Shimbun (in Japanese). 5 February 2021.
  40. ↑ "〝Ｎ国党〟が〝ＮＨＫ党〟へ 「ＮＨＫ受信料を支払わない方法を教える党」に改称". Tokyo Sports (in Japanese). 29 January 2021.
  41. ↑ "NHK党が「古い政党から国民を守る党」に党名変更". Asahi Shimbun Digital (in Japanese). 2021-05-17. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
  42. ↑ "Protect the Nation from NHK Party becomes Protect the Nation from Old Parties Party". Japan Today. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  43. ↑ "YouTuber-turned politician GaaSyy likely to be expelled from parliament". Japan Times. 2023-03-08.
  44. ↑ "NHKをぶっ壊す！ | NHK受信料を支払わない方法を教える党". 2021-06-27. Archived from the original on 2021-06-27. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  45. ↑ "NHKをぶっ壊す！". 嵐の党 公式サイト (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  46. ↑ "党役員". NHKをぶっ壊す！ (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-28.

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