Politician Turns Gravure Idol

Politician 藤川優里 / Yuri Fujikawa (27), known for her most comely visage, as well as her youthful political success, has evoked a storm of criticism from her own supporters after it emerged she decided to pursue the release of her own image DVD and even a gravure photo album, adding insult to injury by not bothering to consult her support group, which has disowned her.

Ms Fujikawa holds the seat of a city councillor in Hachinohe, a city of 240,000 in the northern prefecture of Aomori, and is described as an independent conservative, though all her notoriety stems from being known as the 美人市議 / Bijin Gishi, or Belle Councillor. Her appearances frolicking in the snow in a bikini certainly also helped.

Rather than waste time talking about her tedious career let us examine it in pictures:

She was approached directly by Pony Canyon with a view to publishing the usual DVDs and photo collections of her (it’s not clear if she can sing as well), bypassing her political support infrastructure.

It is claimed when first approached, she initially refused, but soon decided it would be ok, so long as she could publicise the city as a tourist destination by doing so. It seems possible she might take this opportunity to stop wasting her time serving the city and instead take to cavorting in bikinis full time.

Her support group, responsible for getting her elected, is disgusted with what it sees as a complete betrayal of it and the city, with the chair saying the group can no longer support her under these circumstances.

He parts scathingly: “She’s massively betrayed the expectations of the constituents who voted for her, as well as all her supporters locally, nationally, and overseas. Personally, I find it hugely regrettable, but there’s nothing to be done now.”

These support groups are what gets Japanese politicians elected, and in many cases are rather more crucial to the business of being elected than the qualities of the candidates themselves, so it appears she will have to put on her skimpiest bikini if she wishes to make amends, otherwise her political career is finished.

Via Itai News.

We have already seen much of the constant interplay of idols and AV with other image professions, and it also seems the masses are only too eager to idolise public figures irrespective of their wishes (though this is likely human nature); perhaps this is only an extension of that?

Also, aren’t so many politicians already in office solely on account of their charisma, physical or otherwise?

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