Japanese politician dressed as ‘The Joker’ supervillain running for governor: Watch

A Japanese politician is gaining worldwide attention after joining the race to become the next governor of Chiba Prefecture as a “prankster.” Yusuke Kawai, who runs an event planning agency, announced his candidacy earlier this month at a press conference where he appeared as a comic book supervillain. According to Japan Today, Kawai will fight the March 21 elections with the Party to make Chiba a land of dreams and magic.

Self-promotion mechanism?

Kawai shared his post-election plans on his personal YouTube channel, where he also posted a rap song called “It’s Show Time” to reach out to voters. According to Japan Today, Kawai is running for office to annoy his rival candidate Masayuki Hiratsuka of the People’s Sovereignty Party. Hiratsuka, who is an anti-mask activist, ran for governor in Tokyo last year but lost a huge margin.

Meanwhile, Kawai isn’t the only candidate gaining people’s attention, as another candidate named Teruki Goto of the Basic Income Party is also in the running. Japan Today reported that Goto is the same person who appeared on state television covered in poop-stained diapers to campaign for the election of the governor of Tokyo in 2020. In the Tokyo governor’s poll in 2015, Goto made a naked election poster of himself to woo voters.

According to reports, Kawai and Goto have entered the fray to annoy Hiratsuka and the duo are enjoying great popularity on social media as well. However, reports suggest Kawai and Goto are unlikely to win the election, with some accusing them of using the polls as a mechanism for self-promotion.