This month, netizens both in Japan and abroad delighted at the viral video of a Japanese politician weeping openly at a press conference after he was accused of fraudulent use of government funds. During Diet member Nonomura Ryutaro’s press conference, which he held to assert his own innocence after allegedly using government money to reimburse his own travel expenses to hot springs and other locations, the politician completely broke down, ranting about his personal integrity, leaving sentences half-finished, and wailing loudly. Netizens everywhere have delighted in the video footage of the politician’s pain, and Nonomura quickly became a hit internet meme after international news sites picked up the story.
In addition to the numerous remix videos and photoshopped images of Nonomura that have been circulating the internet, anonymous netizens also took it upon themselves to add a rather too faithful reproduction of Nonomura’s speech to his Wikipedia page, including transliterations of the stuttering, self-interruptions, and wide variety of crying noises heard in the video footage. Although the politician’s entire Wikipedia page was deleted soon after the vandalism, netizens have given their whole-hearted approval to the stunt. You can find excerpts from the press conference, with a fan’s English-language subtitles, after the article.
From getnews.jp:
Nonomura Ryutaro’s Wikipedia Page Entirely Deleted After His Crying and Claims of Innocence Faithfully Reproduced
Suspicions have arisen that assemblyman Nonomura Ryutaro of Hyogo Prefecture has been falsely reimbursing round-trip travel fees from his home to four specific locations as government expenses. Based on the itemization of his expenses, it seems that he has expensed a total of 3 million yen for as many as 195 trips to places including Kinosaki Onsen and Fukuoka.
After these allegations arose, Diet member Nonomura held a press conference on July 2 at 4 p.m. to assert his own innocence. At that press conference, he broke down crying and wailing, and netizens who saw the video footage have been posting comments such as “He’s just like Funasshii,” “I can’t understand what he’s even saying,” and “So real w”.
If you had looked at Nonomura Ryutaro’s Wikipedia page following the press conference, you’d have seen something even more cruel. After the press conference, the subject matter of the press conference where added to the “Quotes” entry on his Wikipedia page, and the content was reproduced perhaps a bit too literally and faithfully. The content added to Wikipedia included “In 2014, during an examination of the previous years’ government expenses, th- BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER, IT’S ALL THE SAME” and “Nnnyahh! Wahahahaaa! This Japan- nn- huhhuwaaaaaaaaaaahhh! Ahwaha waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh! This Japa- ahhh….wah!”
Because similar additions were also made to the “Policy” entry of the Wikipedia page, the revisions were judged to be a prank, and the page has now been deleted. It seems that Diet member Nonomura Ryutaro will continue to be flooded with attention for the time being.
Video from YouTube:
Comments from 2ch.net:
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
hey wwwwwwww the thread title wwwwwwwwwwwwwww [N.B. the 2ch thread title translates as “’Nnnyahh! Wahahahaaa! This Japan- nn- huhhuwaaaaaaaaaaahhh! Ahwaha waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh! This Japa- ahhh….wah!’… Hyogo Prefectural Diet Member Nonomura Ryutaro’s Wikipedia Page Severely Vandalized”]
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
The thread title w
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／ :
（≧д≦） Nnyahh!
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
”Have you really betrayed us?!” [famously slurred quote from the show Kamen Rider ]
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
It’s terrible that this was judged a prank even though what they added was the truth.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Wikipedia’s full of lies. This stuff is way more truthful so they should definitely leave it up.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Even for a spoiled brat, this is too awful! Is what they’re saying w
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
”I have staked my life—wahahaaaaa!!” [another quote from the video]
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
A whole new style of person has emerged.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
I laughed my ass off at this bastard’s press conference www
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／ :
He’s doing an impression of Funasshii right in the middle there, isn’t he? This guy…He’s just fucking with us, right?
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Is this asshole on drugs?
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
When you put it in writing, the destructive power is even greater www (´∀｀)
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Someone please translate his speech into Japanese
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
It’s like a speech that Yagami Light would give w No matter how many times you watch it, it’s pretty much inescapable ww
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
Does this asshole have Hwabyeong in his blood? Incredible wwwwwww
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
This will be our New Year’s party entertainment this year.
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
W-, w-, waaaahhh!! Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／:
It made me laugh when I realized there are actually losers who immediately engaged in an editorial battle to delete this. wwwwwwwwww leave it up!
名無しさん＠０新周年＠＼(^o^)／ [in response to above]:
LOL
