Meet Yuusuke Kawai. The Japanese politician’s race to become the next governor of Chiba Prefecture garnered global attention after he appeared on NHK to present his campaign platform.
Presumably for copyright reasons, Kawai is not The Joker – just “a joker.”
We might put the imperfections in his cosplay down to this seeming attempt to avoid a lawsuit from DC Comics but the clown makeup and maroon blazer definitely seem to be emulating Joaquin Phoenix’s version of the supervillain – along with a gold handkerchief to (perhaps) represent the character’s vest.
At the beginning of his speech on Japan’s public broadcaster, Kawai told viewers to record on their phones and upload it to Youtube and TikTok.
Rather wholesomely, Kawai belongs to the Party to Make All of Chiba a Land of Dreams and Magic!
His campaign pledges include:
- Turning the whole Chiba prefecture into a Disneyland
- Transforming the entire Sotobo Area in Eastern Chiba Prefecture into a “DisneySea” (a fantasy theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort)
- If the plans for a new DisneySky don’t work out, turn Narita Airport itself into a DisneySky (a loop park dedicated to sky and space adventure)
- Building a red tower, like Tokyo Tower, in Chiba but name it Tokyo Tower (like Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo German Village which are not actually located in Tokyo, but Chiba)
Kawai is particularly concerned with Chiba Prefecture’s reputation. His steps towards creating an image of a fashionable city “like Yokohama” include:
- Abolish the word “rubbish”/”trash” and replace it with the name “star fragments”!
- Rename the “hooligans” that Chiba is known to be full of to something “prettier” like Olaf, or Pierre, depending on your personal preference
- Negotiate to change the starting melody of all trains in Chiba Prefecture to Disney songs – the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack in particular to raise morale for morning commuters
- When the temperature drops below 5 degrees in winter, Frozen songs will be played
- If the temperature drops below zero, then famous singer Takako Matsu – voice of Elsa in the Japanese dub – will step in to perform the Frozen soundtrack (I question whether Miss Takako has agreed to this)
If you haven’t noticed, Kawai loves Disney. In fact, his “favourite type of woman” is Anna OR Elsa…
Personally, I would need the candidate to make a firm decision between the sisters in order to know where he truly stands before casting my vote.
Finally, Kawai ended his broadcast by calling out untrustworthy politicians who cheat, go home at times of disaster, and dangerously disregard the seriousness of the pandemic.
Yes! Take the trash ou- I mean, take the star fragments out, sir!
Read more: Japanese Billionaire Invites the Public to Join Him On a Trip to the Moon
