Politicians want our votes at all costs. When there are elections, applicants enter campaign, and in recent years they have taken advantage of new technologies to get the attention of these young voters or who do not consume the traditional media. It is something that happens throughout the world, but when we turn our heads and look at Japan, the thing goes down and we see dozens of “politicians” disguised as … whatever. The problem is that one of them has made cosplay next to a Gundam.
And it is something that has not made Bandai funny.
Short. A few days ago, the Japanese politician Taro Yamamoto, former actor and founder of the party ‘Reiwa Shingmi’ disguised himself as a Aznable Char, a character of ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’. Interestingly, he was the antagonist of the series and dressed as such to give rise to Maya Okamoto. Voice actress, Okamoto put the voice to the character of Emma Sheen in ‘Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam’, so the entire campaign seemed to make enough sense.
You can see the video of both, posing and launching their proclamations, in front of a unicorn gundam to the real size in Odaiba:
The politicians’ mask. The video became very viral in X, so the goal achieved, but it is not really so strange to see Japanese politicians trying to capture the attention of voters in this way. In fact, it is not the rarest, nor the most shameful, which can be seen in the Japanese political scene.
On this occasion, a hole is sought in the Chamber of Counselors of Japan, but in the last elections in Tokyo several candidates of minor parties disguised as characters such as the Joker could be seen (perhaps not most appropriate) or as the girl of ‘The Ring’. Others decided to partially undress and, as we say, it is a usual practice due to the Japanese broadcast system.
NHK public television should allow each candidate to have time to appear before the voters, but as there are so many candidates between serious parties and others much more ‘casual’, for qualifying them in some way, the applicants seek the best way to get attention. In addition, some have no intention of presenting themselves, they simply look for a hole in the advertising fences to jump to fame. The case of Reiwa Shinngumi is serious because they do not look for the show for the show or for a matter of fame.
Protecting pop culture. The message in X from Yamamoto not only we have the video, but also the explanation of what he was looking for disguising himself in that way. He states that “Parliament is full of people who only want to be parliamentary, but the important thing is not to become a parliamentarian: it is to take a step to protect pop culture.” He assures that such a profile is rare, “a species in extinction”, and what he tries to achieve is to attract the attention of that 50% of the electorate that does not go to the polls because he thinks that “the world cannot be changed.”
This speech focuses on anime, ensuring that they are going through a crisis, “a crisis of Japanese culture and a crisis of small and medium -sized companies in Japan” and that, to protect that Japanese pop culture, you have to vote for Maya Okamoto. It is a curious statement, since part of the possible anime crisis is an endemic problem of endless days and poor working conditions, especially in larger studies.
The actress, on the other hand, influenced the idea that such an action “can reach sectors that are normally disconnected from politics”, and not only commented that the show industry is in trouble: also autonomous, family businesses, small and medium enterprises that represent “99% of Japanese businesses” due to a measure called “mandatory electronic turnover” that entered into force in 2023 Very unpopular among certain professionals because it has caused a 10% increase in the taxes they must pay.
Reactions found. The measure has sitting unequally in Japan. There are those who have described Yamamoto as “clown”, such as Minoru Ogino, a politician who is Vtuber and knowledgeable of manga and anime cultures. And some Gundam fans do not seem too comfortable with the figure of a politician disguised as Char, with comment like “In the end, she tries to cause a nuclear winter. Do you really know who is imitating?” Or “it is clear that the costume was put without knowing what Chaznable Char did in the original story”, assuming that another character should have been disguised.
In the YouTube video we find reactions of all kinds, with numerous samples of support and comments such as “I will definitely vote.” Others have taken action as a positive campaign by presenting ideas in a fun way, something away from the traditional seriousness of conventional and biggest parties.
Bandai doesn’t want to know anything. Voters will speak at the polls, but those who have already manifested, and totally seriously, are responsible for … Gundam. Bandai, in a statement, said they had not approved these actions:
“In the elections of the Chamber of Counselors of 2025, there were candidates who did activities using cosplay costumes that remind the characters of the ‘Gundam’ series. It is not approved by Bandai Namco and we do not support specific candidates.”
In the end, it is the most normal for a company to detach from this type of political actions for more than obvious reasons: there will be part of its audience that votes to a party or another and what Bandai does in this case is to protect their own interests so that its brand is not related to the ideology of those who use it.
South Korea is more of the same. But well, this of using elements of popular culture or something that is extremely fashionable is not something new or exclusive to Japan. South Korea is another example of how to use mass entertainment pieces to reach the youngest. Something that passionate South Koreans (apart from aesthetic operations by social pressure) are electronic sports. ‘Starcraft’ is a religion, but another video game hit a few years ago: ‘Overwatch’.
And what happened? That a candidate for the presidential elections used it as a political tool in the same way as, before her, they had already served the aforementioned ‘Starcraft’ to scratch votes of the youngest. In the end, politicians do anything to win those votes of a youth that can feel detached from matter. And can be disguised, use video games or extend bonds.
In WorldOfSoftware | The day I almost went crazy because Japan, with its peculiarities, does not allow the mobile chamber to be silenced
