Japan is having a general election on August 30. With that announcement, the political scene looks set to change a little. In the meantime, the clowns come out.

The Shinto Honshitsu (New Party Essence) is a one-man band self-styled political party in Tokyo featuring a would-be politician called Hidemitsu Sano (see poster in above photo.)

Sano has a love of over-the-top comic-strip-style vehicles, which are a feature of his political campaigning. His web presence is never without some uber-hip wheels in sight, and this pumped-up toy motorbike-with-sidecar that we caught on camera last week in Tokyo’s Roppongi district is the vanguard of his street presence.

The Shinto Honshitsu’s platform is a mish-mash of unrelated issues. The overall theme is self-proclaimed "uncommonsense," with the leading platform being the legalization of mercy killing!

The Party also stands for the nationalization of the medical profession, pay-your-own medical care for the rich, the abolition of the recently introduced jury system (“Don’t get the people involved in dreadful crime cases that even judges balk at”), eradication of "contradictions in the law" (“Why is government sponsored gambling such as horseracing and lotteries OK, but private gambling is illegal?"), and the lowering of bureaucrats' salaries.

The Shinto Honshitsu – only in Japan.

Oh, and one more reason you should vote for him is the fact that, according to the front page of his website, he lost 40kg (88lb) in half a year – without even giving up the booze! His public service extends to having written a book about it: Slim While Drinking Your Favorite Alcohol, able to be ordered through the Shinto Honshitsu website.

© JapanVisitor.com

Yahoo Japan Auction Service

Book a Japanese Hotel with Bookings

Japanese Friends

Rough Guide To Japan

Tags

Japan Tokyo Shinto Honshitsu politics Hidemitsu Sano