PM hopeful Taro Aso plays up own otaku image
Man, Taro Aso is the gift that won’t stop giving! In addition to being spotted on commuter trains with his nose buried in Rozen Maiden manga, Aso is now trumpeting his geek-cred, hoping to gain populist support.
In an Aug. 5 Sankei newspaper survey, 23 percent of those polled said Aso was the most suitable candidate to lead the country, followed by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s 17.4 percent and Fukuda’s 6.4 percent. A separate Jiji Press survey last month produced a similar result.
The son of a wealthy cement magnate with ties to the Imperial family, Aso has strived to appeal to common people. In August 2007, he wrote an ode to the country’s geek innovations in an essay entitled “Manga” — Japanese comic books — that appeared on his Web site.
“We didn’t develop manga, karaoke and conveyor-belt sushi because we wanted approval from overseas,” Aso wrote. “We simply like it, and if we become geeks and put all efforts into creating, we’ll win appeal throughout the world.”
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