In Japan, an influencer YouTuber was first elected as the sole representative of the "48 Women's Party" in the House of Councillors election last July. He was Yoshikazu Higashitani, Japan's first congressman to work on online video production. However, he has not appeared in Congress since his election and has not performed any duties related to his status. He even announced on his YouTube channel that he would use his salary to go to Turkey to support the earthquake area. This prolonged "absenteeism" caused displeasure in the Japanese Senate and eventually led to his formal dismissal.
According to Japan's Kyodo News Agency and other media reports, the Japanese House of Councillors Punishment Committee passed the decision to dismiss Yoshikazu Higashitani on March 14, and voted on it in plenary session on the 15th. The decision was adopted by 235 votes to 1, with 1 abstention. It was the third harshest punishment since 1951 after 72 years, and the first dismissal for absence.
It is reported that Toya Yoshikazu currently resides in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has refused to return to attend a session of parliament. He has said he fears arrest for allegedly threatening or defaming celebrity gossip on YouTube. In addition, he claims to be a "citizen of the world" and is not subject to any laws.
Prior to this, the Japanese Senate had repeatedly asked Yoshikazu Higashitani to correct his behavior and gave him the opportunity to apologize. However, not only did he not accept the request, but he also missed the scheduled apology session at the plenary meeting held on the 8th. Instead, he posted a video on his YouTube channel in which he said he was heading to Turkey and bought a luxury sports car with his monthly parliamentary salary of about 1 million yen (about 60,000 yuan).
This move triggered strong dissatisfaction and criticism from the Japanese Diet, the public and the media, believing that he was challenging the authority of the Diet and the trust of the public, and that he was also wasting taxpayers' money. Some even wonder if he actually went to Turkey or simply hid in the UAE to escape possible accusations of scams and defamation.
Higashitani Yoshikazu did not care about this, but continued to post various provocative videos on YouTube, such as "I don't want to be a parliamentarian" and "I want to go to space". He also declared himself "Japan's most influential" politician and disparaged other lawmakers as "incompetent."