The super crazy nail that sticks up gets hammered down.
After a hard-fought election win last January, 2021 was gearing up to the year of Councilman Super Crazy Kun. Despite his unorthodox fashion for a political candidate, Super Crazy Kun’s novel strategy of campaigning to kids, who in turn had the ears of their parents and grandparents, ultimately earned him a seat on the Toda City Council in Saitama Prefecture.
▼ A Super Crazy Kun stump speech often resembles a street party
Knowing full well that his dyed hair, tattoos, and clothing associated with Japanese bosozoku biker gangs wouldn’t go over with the other members of the council, Super Crazy Kun showed up for his first day in surprisingly sober attire and a serious demeanor to do his job.
Sure enough, not long after winning the seat a ploy was brewing to have his victory declared invalid. A group of “concerned citizens” filed a complaint with the Toda City Election Commission, saying that they suspected Super Crazy Kun had not lived in Toda for the mandatory three months prior to running for office.
As a result, the committee invalidated Super Crazy Kun’s victory on 9 April. He denied the accusations, saying that while he frequently traveled to Tokyo to visit his wife and child, his permanent residence had been in Toda since 5 October, 2020. He also quickly submitted a petition to appeal the decision with the prefectural election committee.
▼ Several Tanabata wishes were seen showing support for Super Crazy Kun
書いてくれた人
— スーパークレイジー君/本名 西本誠／戸田市議会議員 (@makoto__9999) July 7, 2021
ありがとう。
誰なんだろ！
嬉しみ。 pic.twitter.com/fMYZSaemGl
This led to a three-month in-depth investigation of all Super Crazy Kun’s activities from the end of 2020 to early 2021. “I submitted receipts for utilities and shopping in Toda, but the investigation wanted more than that,” he told the tabloid Friday, “What time I woke up and went to bed, what time I ate, what I ate, and so on. It was like a police interrogation. It didn’t end with me either. They interviewed my wife and friends and secured surveillance footage from convenience stores and gas stations.”
By election rules, the investigation shouldn’t take longer than 60 days, but in Super Crazy Kun’s case it took 80. While understandably nerve-racking, he at least took it as a sign that this wasn’t an open-and-shut case.
Finally, on 12 July the verdict came and Super Crazy Kun wasted no time tweeting it to his supporters.
▼ “The victory has been invalidated. I’m really sorry to all of you who voted in Toda City. Thank you very much. I have nothing but gratitude.”
当選無効となりました。
— スーパークレイジー君/本名 西本誠／戸田市議会議員 (@makoto__9999) July 12, 2021
戸田市で投票して下さりました
全ての皆様本当にすみません。
ありがとうございました。
感謝でしかありません。https://t.co/ZKYRyewaoP
In their rejection, the prefectural committee cited the fact that Super Crazy Kun didn’t report the “status of his household garbage” nor whether mail was being forwarded from his family’s residence in Tokyo.
When the election win was previously declared invalid, comments tended to be on the fence whether Super Crazy Kun was to blame or simply a victim of being different. Now, however, there seems to be a growing sentiment that he got a raw deal.
“Super Crazy Kun’s election win was invalidated? There’s a shock.”
“There’s a whole lot of other politicians who would lose their jobs if the same rules applied to them.”
“What’s the point of living there for three months anyway? Seems like it would only make it harder for him to win if he wasn’t.”
“He should just cut his losses on this one and focus on winning the next election somewhere else.”
“Why is the burden of proof on him and not the people who accused him?”
“Super Crazy Kun was backstabbed.”
“He still has my support in whatever he does next.”
“I don’t think he can come back from this…”
Super Crazy Kun plans to take his case to the Tokyo High Court on 14 July. His lawyers admit that the physical evidence supporting his life in Toda is weak, but that could probably be said of anyone living anywhere.
“You have to take a picture of where you are sleeping and keep all your receipts from the convenience store. If you do that, then you are welcome in politics,” said Super Crazy Kun, “I’m worried that the number of people who will get into politics will decrease. I don’t want young people to think that ‘politics is dirty business’ and ‘it’s useless to try.’ I will continue to fight to the people who believed in me enough to give me their vote.”
▼ A letter from a child thanking Super Crazy Kun for signing their umbrella and wishing him luck
市役所に届いた手紙。
— スーパークレイジー君/本名 西本誠／戸田市議会議員 (@makoto__9999) June 30, 2021
ありがとう！！！
また喋ろうぜっ！！！
スーパクレージーくんより。 pic.twitter.com/pjiZpuRDxj
Having fought his way out of a troubled childhood and into the world of politics, Super Crazy Kun doesn’t seem like the type who will shy away from a challenge and will see this through to the end if he has too. And even if he fails in the upper courts, he will still probably emerge an even more battle-hardened candidate in future elections.
It’s unfortunately the life for politicians that don’t adapt to the norms of their peers and have to work twice as hard to serve their communities. It kind of makes you wonder who among us is truly super crazy.
Source: Friday Digital, Otaku.com, Twitter/@makoto__9999
Top image: YouTube/スーパークレイジー君official
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