Battle Royale star Taro Yamamoto causes turmoil in Japan’s parliament – The Hollywood Reporter
It would be fun to assume that Japanese actor turned leftist political leader Taro Yamamoto is tapping into his experience playing the lead in the most beloved film. Royal War when he sparked a skirmish Thursday in the Japanese parliament. But there is no doubt that the legislator is willing to make sacrifices for his cause.
A wild scene unfolded in the upper house of Japan’s legislature on Thursday as Yamamoto desperately tried to block the passage of a controversial immigration bill by storming fellow lawmakers who were in the process of trying to get through the legislative section (see video below).
Yamamoto was overpowered by fellow lawmakers as he repeatedly jumped at the table where party leaders were debating the bill. The mayhem lasted for several minutes, amid boos from both majority and opposition lawmakers. Japan Times report.
Yamamoto’s antics briefly halted debate but failed to stop the bill, which is expected to receive final approval on Friday.
The bill is designed to amend Japan’s immigration rules and limit the country’s long-term detention of asylum seekers in notoriously harsh conditions. It has the support of Japan’s ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party, as well as two opposing parties. Progressive lawmakers, however, have been met with stiff opposition, arguing that it does not go far enough in protecting the rights of refugees and does not improve the conditions of already detained asylum seekers. kept in Japan. This problem has become critical since 2021 when a 33-year-old Sri Lankan refugee died in custody at an immigration center in Nagoya, sparking outcry over harsh conditions and practices. harshness of those establishments.
Yamamoto began his career as a television actor in the 1990s, appearing in a series of hit Japanese television series before turning to acting. He is best remembered by international movie buffs for his lead role in the wildly violent cult thriller. Royal War (2000), is considered a precursor of Squid game.
Yamamoto continued to work in the film industry until the Great East Japan earthquake and the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011 when he publicly resigned from his talent agency to devote himself to protest the Japanese government’s handling of the disaster. He was elected to the House of Representatives of Japan in 2013 and has become known for his unconventional methods – including circumventing protocol to complain to the Emperor of Japan about the country’s nuclear policies, developing launched a massive protest over the controversial state secrets law and called for the cancellation of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics so the funds could be used to support the country’s pandemic relief measures for the poor. . He is the leader and founder of the Reiwa Shinsengumi, a leftist populist political party.
