Due to his recent sex scandal, best-selling author Hirotada Ototake has decided not to run for the Upper House under the banner of the Liberal Democratic Party this year, but he hasn't officially said he won't run at all. Earlier this month, while the scandal was still hot, he went ahead with a birthday party that had been scheduled before it broke. The media reported that he was originally going to announce his candidacy at the party, and though he didn't, he also didn't clearly say he wouldn't run.

Ototake doesn't necessarily need the LDP to win. He's famous, and if he does decide to run — either independently or for another party — there's a chance he can still win. The reason he aligned himself with the LDP was that he thought he would be able to accomplish more with the backing of the ruling party.

His main task is to make better lives for people with disabilities like himself. For the LDP it was perfect, since Ototake's membership automatically would have given them credibility as a party that supported citizens with disabilities in a society where such support is often considered insufficient, which may explain the media's cautious approach to the Law on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities, which went into effect April 1.