Overview

• Mayor Maki Takubo appeared on August 13 with legal counsel at Ito City Council’s investigative special committee to address allegations of academic credential falsification.
• She reiterated that she only learned on June 28 through an inquiry to Toyo University that she had been removed rather than graduated.
• Takubo has declined two formal requests to hand over the document she refers to as her graduation certificate, citing fears of criminal prosecution.
• Committee members presented official copies of the university diploma and yearbook; Takubo said she had nothing to compare for the certificate and found the yearbook images identical to hers.
• A city public relations official confirmed that she previously showed him a document labeled as a graduation certificate, intensifying questions over her graduate status in municipal materials.