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Abe resigns, Rozen Aso to take over?

1 min read27 comments

After months of taking shit from left and right and three agricultural ministers later, Shinzo Abe finally announced today that he is resigning as prime minister of Japan (YouTube video). The Liberal Democratic Party, which is the ruling party and controls the lower house of the Diet, will be likely to pick one of their own people to replace him.

Rozen Aso
Rozen Maiden + Taro Aso = Rozen Aso

The most likely candidate is Taro Aso (麻生太郎), AKA Rozen Aso, the secretary general of LDP and foreign minister in Abe’s cabinet. Mr. Aso is probably the most well-known politician among the 2ch and Akiba crowd because of his nickname which he got after he was once seen reading a volume of Rozen Maiden at an airport book store. He professes to be a dedicated manga fan and his favourite works include Golgo 13, Nodame Cantible and Kochikame. He gave a speech at Akihabara during the 2006 elections campaign and drew a large crowd (YouTube video). In his speech, he addressed the otaku population directly and spoke on manga-related topics and the soft power of Japanese pop culture.

LDP will be carrying out internal voting on the 19th. If Rozen Aso does take over, he does not need to call for a general election until 2009. However, it is likely that he will be forced by the opposition to call for one within the next few months, and it will be hard to say if LDP’s current reputation can carry the embattled ruling party through.

Still, the first step towards possible otaku world domination?

[ Sources: Wikipedia | IHT | 日テレNEWS24 ]

EDIT: According to this new-akiba article linked by don777, anime and game related stocks rose sharply today, in particularly Broccoli‘s share value has reached “ridiculous levels”.

27 responses

  1. Lawliet Avatar
    Lawliet

    Well, seeing that he has been in lots of trouble lately, I can’t say I didn’t see this coming.

  2. mt-i Avatar
    mt-i

    Fortunately for him as a foreign minister, his last name is actually read Asou, not Masou :-)

  3. DarkMirage Avatar
    DarkMirage

    Yes my fault. It has been fixed. I keep thinking of 麻’s Chinese reading. XD

  4. don777 Avatar
    don777

    I can’t predict the next PM.

    But Otaku chips(Mandarake, Bandai Visual…) suddenly surged in today’s Japanese stock market（^^；.

    http://www.new-akiba.com/archives/2007/09/post_11195.html

  5. dKiWi Avatar
    dKiWi

    It would be interesting if he commented on how Peach-Pit recently abandoned the Rozen Maiden series…

  6. lorddesis Avatar
    lorddesis

    and the otakus shall inherit the earth

  7. abao Avatar
    abao

    Shinzo Abe resigned over for the US refueling but not for losing the elections back in july…

    History will not judge him kindly.

    And hail the domination of Anime and Manga.

  8. TP Avatar
    TP

    So, what this means to me, as an overseas otaku? Proliferations of weapons of mass otakudom (WMO)? Try to hit on North Korea? I don’t know. I was never interested in Japanese politics.

  9. DarkMirage Avatar
    DarkMirage

    It could mean more cute anime mascots for government agencies! LOL. And probably policies and initiatives to help Japan project its influence globally via pop culture. He did establish the International Manga prize for non-Japanese Mangaka in 2007.

  10. holybell84 Avatar
    holybell84

    Oh good, finally someone that is more orientated in the otaku’s way WOOT!

  11. Tsubaki Avatar
    Tsubaki

    What? Yet another Eleven to become PM?

    ALL HAIL BRITANIA. LET’S CRUSH EM.

  12. lanie-emon Avatar
    lanie-emon

    Uh, Rozen Aso as PM. I guess the foreign ministry (Rozen Aso old ministry) will furthering the use of manga & anime as a diplomatic tool then…

  13. Tiny Red Man Avatar
    Tiny Red Man

    Rozen Aso FTW!!!

    when i saw the news of him possibly being PM, i laughed. fufufufu..imagine, free export of anime merchandises to any part of the world!!! =D

  14. Epic Win Blog » Abe Shinzo Resigns, to be Replaced by Rozen Aso?

    […] stockmarket closed lower on the news of Abe’s resignation, according to a link posted on DarkMirage’s site by don777, otaku related stocks took an upturn after the announcement. Not sure what […]

  15. LianYL Avatar
    LianYL

    So an Asoh is going to take over.

  16. miyamiya Avatar
    miyamiya

    Wait, so if Broccoli is finally out of the red… does that mean that I’ll get to see Galaxy Angel II games finally out on the PC?? It’s frustrating that the first 3 GA games came out on PC first but not the later games because Broccoli was facing financial difficulties.

  17. hound297 Avatar
    hound297

    Lolz ! one small step for him and one big step for animekind.

  18. miyamiya Avatar
    miyamiya

    Hmm… I think we have to reserve our opinions of Aso in the meantime.

    My Singaporean friend living in Japan now says that Aso hates China and he views pple living in South East Asia as Uneducated Barbarians. He even said that subcultures like Anime should be used to “colonize” SEA countries. Of course all these can’t be published on newspaper.

    If my friend is not pulling my leg, then I think my opinion of Aso is greatly lowered.

  19. Pear Avatar
    Pear

    Aso sounds like my type of man. :3

  20. Vallen Chaos Valiant Avatar
    Vallen Chaos Valiant

    “My Singaporean friend living in Japan now says that Aso hates China and he views pple living in South East Asia as Uneducated Barbarians.”

    Since he treat the Taiwanese like they are a free people rather than criminals to be enslaved, I personally don’t see that a problem. One man’s devil is another man’s saviour.

    I generally avoid talking politics, but this is the first person I know who actually stands up for Taiwan’s rights. I have my priorities, and the fact that he is an anime fan is just a bonus.

  21. miyamiya Avatar
    miyamiya

    Dude, the key word is SEA. Most of us here fall under that category. How would you feel if some guy perceives you as an uneducated barbarian. And who gives a fig about China and Taiwan?

  22. fifaifo Avatar
    fifaifo

    Hmm… very interesting. I don’t know what to make of him. He makes racist statements yet he’s currently Japan’s foreign minister. How ironic that he doesn’t practice diplomacy very well.

  23. Ronin Avatar
    Ronin

    Dunno. I’m having mixed reactions to him being the next PM. He seems to be, like his fellow party mate, Abe, a conservative. Although I’m quite amused at the reaction the world will make IF HE DID.

  24. xnoxregret Avatar
    xnoxregret

    Awesome, finally this is the rise of otaku :)

    I feel like the foresee of the guy in Comic Party is becoming true

    In next 10 years, Japan will conquer the world through culture. =)) the big Manga Anime Conquest =))

    Waiting to see that :)

  25. abao Avatar
    abao

    Update: Apparently MSM reports that Rozen Aso doesnt stands a high chance of winning the post of PM.

  26. SUZAKU Avatar
    SUZAKU

    Taro Aso the next Prime Minister of Japan (1)
    http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=3Amd7M1LJ0U

    Taro Aso the next Prime Minister of Japan (2)
    http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=lDYzS6LVeSQ

  27. V Avatar
    V

    Taro Aso lost the LDP votes.
    But eh, did you really think that him being a borderline otaku would really help the otaku world domination movement?

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