Voters in the northern city of Morioka have chosen a man for the Iwate Prefectural Assembly without even seeing his face! Masked pro wrestler The Great Sasuke (33) got more votes than any of the other 11 candidates for the ten seats up for grabs. He said that he plans to attend assembly meetings in his mask and that he will work to deal with problems with the medical system and child abuse. If he moves up to the national level, he’ll be following in the footsteps of such famous grapplers as Antonio Inoki and Onita Atsushi. (By the way, The Great Sasuke’s real identity is Murakawa Masanori). Another sportsman elected, in Saitama Prefecture, was former J-Leaguer Taguchi Yasunori.
• Kabuki actor Ichikawa Shinnosuke (25) was late for the opening ceremony of a statue of samurai hero Miyamoto Musashi, the part he plays in the current NHK taiga drama. The statue is located at the scene of the famous Duel at Ganryujima, for which Japan’s most famous swordsman was also late. Coincidence?
• Kinki Kids have extended their world record with a 16th consecutive single going straight to No.1 in the Oricon chart.