Japan’s Youtuber MP kicked out for never turning up
A Youtuber-turned-politician has become the first Japanese MP to be expelled by parliament in more than 70 years, after failing to turn up for a single day’s work since he was elected last year.
Yoshikazu Higashitani, famous for his celebrity gossip videos and better known as Gaasyy, has not shown up since being elected to the upper house last July.
Mr Higashitani, nicknamed the No Show MP, was stripped of his status by parliament’s disciplinary committee, making him the first MP to be expelled since 1951.
He is said to be in Dubai and reportedly fears being arrested if he returns to Japan, where he faces alleged defamation claims from celebrities, according to media reports.
The decision to expel Mr Higashitani, an elected member of the fringe party Seijika Joshi 48, came after he was ordered to apologise for his absence earlier this month, giving him a final opportunity to show up.
However, his continued absence apparently angered members of parliament. While he initially expressed his hope to return, he went on to announce on social media that he was in fact going to Turkey and would donate his salary to the Turkish earthquake relief.
Muneo Suzuki, head of the parliamentary disciplinary committee, said: “Gaasyy doesn’t understand the foundations of democracy, which is based on laws and rules.”
Mr Higashitani was elected to parliament under the proportional representational system, as one of two members of the populist Seijika Joshi 48 Party, which loosely translates as “Politicians Girls 48 Party” and was known as the NHK Party until earlier this month.
Before his Youtube fame, Mr Higashitani reportedly ran a series of bars in cities including Tokyo and Osaka, befriending celebrities and enjoying a lifestyle of “money, liquor and women,” according to reports.
He then turned to producing video exposés of Japanese celebrities through his network of entertainment contacts.
His videos, posted on a Youtube channel called The Underbelly of the Celebrity World, often focused on the relationships and alleged extramarital affairs of TV host stars, before it was suspended last year.
Today, after being kicked off Youtube, he operates a pay-per-view channel with 40,000 subscribers.