In April of this year, elections were held for the new members of the municipal council of Musashino City, in Tokyo, Japan. The elections had a total of 120,963 participants, and a large number of candidates among which one quite particular stood out. Leaving aside what a municipal council (which is part of the City Council, together with the mayor) does, a total of twenty-six representatives were elected.
Eleven positions below, specifically in the thirty-seventh, we can find a candidate with a rather particular photograph. Is about “Rengoku Koroaki (煉獄 コロアキ)“, which is obviously his real name if we take into account that this is an electoral process and you cannot participate with pseudonyms. In the photograph, perhaps alluding to the fact that he has the same name as the character in Kimetsu no Yaibathe candidate appeared with a cosplay of Kyojuro Rengokuthe Pillar of Fire.
Unfortunately, it seems that his outfit was not enough propaganda material, since he only collected 190 votes during the electoral process. This left him far behind the last person elected to the city council, who had 1,044 votes in favor. However, the “Political Rengoku” did remain above other contenders, something that gives a lot to talk about. After all, how would you feel if a cosplayer got more votes than you?
It is possible that this subject will run again in the next elections, and it is that in Japan anyone can run for local government as long as they are over 25 years old (30 years old for some particular positions). No academic preparation or work history is necessary, although there are some crimes that suspend this right under the laws of Japan.
Therefore, it is common that in each electoral process some very particular people always appear, such as porn actresses or cosplayers, who seek to expand their resume with a position in the Japanese government. There are few times in which someone has been successful, but the simple fact that someone has definitely achieved it is no longer talking.
