Comedian Sonomamma Higashi was voted in as the new governor of Miyazaki Prefecture after his predecessor left the post early last month due to public works bid-rigging scandals. He is the newest in a long line of comedians-turned-governors, which includes--most famously--our very own Arnold Schwarzenegger over here in California--and the recently passed former governor of Tokyo, Yukio Aoshima. Aoshima was most known for his leading role in "Ijiwaru Basan," a well-known comedy show from the sixties about a mean grandma.
Higashi was one of Beat Takeshi's disciples in comedy. He won the votes of the younger people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, the ones who usually don't give a shit about politics and don't have loyalties to any political party.
This kinda reminds me of how a number of pro wrestlers have become politicians in Japan (Antonio Inoki, The Great Sasuke, Hase Hiroshi, etc). I wonder if they also won most of their votes from a similar demographic...
Posted by: MinceyFresh | January 22, 2007 at 08:39 AM
Kenny!
Posted by: Mako | February 17, 2007 at 05:20 PM