Last Sunday, a 40-year-old man in Osaka decided that his strong dislike of politician Kei Yamamoto needed to be expressed physically, and, spotting the politician’s face on a poster down a quiet countryside road, decided to let rip with a golden shower of contempt.
Unfortunately for him, who should be cruising by at that exact moment but the politician himself.
Spotting the alternative activist mid-flow, Yamamoto approached the man and asked him politely to stop.
The man simply replied “Can’t you see I’m peeing, here?” and continued to empty his bladder until he put two and two together and noticed the similarity between the face on the pee-soaked poster and that of the pissed-off politician standing behind him.
Yamamoto immediately contacted the police who came and arrested the man, who is reported to have begged Yamamoto not to tell anyone and who later returned with a bucket and detergent in the hope of removing any evidence of his crime.
The politician shot to Internet stardom immediately after the man’s arrest when he tweeted about the incident, saying “I have just returned from the police station where the police are investigating a civil servant who was caught urinating on my campaign poster.”
It turns out that the perpetrator was, in fact, a member of staff at Osaka city hall, which perhaps explains why he was so desperate to cover up the event and begged Yamamoto to keep it between them.
The city hall employee is quoted as saying that he had been “caught short” while out and about, and that “it’s possible that some urine had found its way onto the poster” as he relieved himself. This would be far more believable had the same man not been “caught spitting on campaign posters” in the past, according to Yamamoto.
But before we write the politician off as just another stiff in a suit, he admits that, “had it not been my poster, I probably would have laughed, too…” on his Twitter feed.
Twitter users were understandably amused by the entire episode, with some saying that the arrested man’s bad timing was nothing short of “hilarious” and that “shocked” doesn’t even begin to describe how he must have felt turning around to find the man featured in the poster staring at him.
You never know who’s watching.
Source: Matome Naver
© RocketNews24
38 Comments
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nath
What police in the entire civilized world have time, or would even entertain the idea of rushing to the spot of a man urinating on a poster, on a "quiet countryside road....?"
You wonder what's wrong with JCops...? Here's reason number 2025!
With all the other crimes, organized crime, theft, ect... And they're going to act as this politicians personal anti-defamation squad... Ridiculous....
It's one thing if the guy is Urinating in broad daylight in front of Tokyo station... Yes... Then we have an issue of someone exposing themselves', an Indecent Act... but this is out in the middle of no-where...
USB
imagine all the stolen bicycles that remained on the loose while the police devoted their time and resources to this heinous crime
daviddd1212
Funny! But a crime????? Too funny!
Geoff Gillespie
He should have wet the politician's hush puppies for good measure....
Ewan Huzarmy
Meh......fake news story taken from the tweets of a J-polititian who wants to make a name for himself. Cue Hashimoto to make the crime of poster peeing punishable by beheading.
Ronald F Stark
Good to see the cops tackling the really tough cases! I wonder how long they interrogated him?
Probie
What an a-hole.
Trying to ruin a guy's life because of his pride? The guy might have been an a-hole too, but Yamamoto looks like a scumbag.
nath
Who wouldn't want to spit, urinate on or otherwise deface those campaign posters with the fake smiles and mock sincerity? I know i do! Thumbs up for the man, and agree with Probie, it stopped being funny when Yamamoto called the cops. Tweeting about it makes him look even more pathetic. He could've made himself look better by writing: "saw a man urinating on a campaign poster. Happened to be mine. It's indicative of deep mistrust of politicians by the regular citizens. We need to work harder to gain their trust." THAT might get him some re-SPECT!
Ms. Alexander
Another idiotic story from Osaka. Seriously, Hashimoto needs to re-educate the adults in Osaka and not the kids!!
my2sense
way to coincidental... and the the Internet triggers were ready.
Elbuda Mexicano
Unfortunately for him, who should be cruising by at that exact moment but the politician himself. Boy! This is classic! Not even the best comedians from Yoshimoto Kogyo can come up with great comedy like this!
Shi Yuehan
Thanks...needed a laugh today.
tmarie
Seriously, Hashimoto needs to re-educate the adults in Osaka and not the kids!!
More so when the guy is a CITY HALL worker. Hashi, clean up YOUR mess please!
Thomas Anderson
How that is considered an arrestable offence is beyond me.
DudeDeuce
I have heard that tearing off a campaign poster is considered an offense too. There are many poster that I would like to deface, rip off or sell on eBay if I could.
Nessie
Seeing its popularity, I've often wondered, "What do you have to do in Japan to get arrested for pissing in public?"
Now I know.
cierzo98
As the article states the man had previously been 'caught' spitting on the politician's posters, it is not beyond possibility that it was no coincidence Yamamoto 'passed' when he was peeing on one. It's not unlikely that Yamamoto is out following the city hall employee to catch him in the act. Perhaps there is even a case for a counter complaint of stalking or harrassment
slumdog
It is illegal in Japan to deface or destroy a campaign poster. (選挙の自由妨害罪」に該当し、選挙違反になります)
wanderlust
Freedom of sPEEch? Not here...
slumdog
There are different ways to look at it. The idea of the law is to guarantee free elections and free choice and not allow people to destroy posters and the like in order to prevent someone from getting exposure and being elected. Every country has some sort of limits on 'free speech'.
Scott Donald
@ slumdog. Yes is seems that while there is a constitutional right for Freedom of Expression in Japan, it all to often circumvented by other laws. This is counter-intuitive to the U.S. application of constitutional rights. @all. This a good primer for freedom of speech in Japan. http://ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/11094/8543/1/oulr038-013.pdf
smithinjapan
Arresting the man after the fact seems a bit odd, and I wonder what they can charge him with, really. Had the police themselves caught the man doing what he did they might be able to push for some kind of public indecency (flashing) charge, but seriously.
It's just a shame the man begged the politician not to tell.
theeastisred
Surely the similarity was between the face on the pissed-on poster and that of the pissed-off politician
vctokyo
where can we "like" this article
aisai
Scott DonaldNov. 15, 2012 - 12:27PM JST Yes is seems that while there is a constitutional right for Freedom of Expression in Japan, it all to often circumvented by other laws. This is counter-intuitive to the U.S. application of constitutional rights.
This is Japan after all, so it really makes no difference how the U.S. interprets or applies it's own Constitution.
Moreover, plenty of constituional rights in the U.S., not just the Freedom of Expression, are being circumvented by other laws. It's done all the time. Sometimes it's a big news story, sometimes you never hear about it. But, it's happening all the time. Rights are always being interpreted and interpretations are always subjective.
Jaymann
ahhh an action that all of us can relate to (not the arrest) But surely number 2s would be more to the point... and ironic too as that is what politicians generally do to us the public.
Scott Donald
@asai. I agree on both accounts. Yes, this is the Japanese constitution and, yes, laws are subject to interpretation. My comment did not suggest that U.S. constitutional law influences the Japanese constitution and it did not suggest that the US constitution was free of circumvention by other laws. I merely wished to help explain that there is a difference in how rigidly the freedom of expression in the constitution is upheld in Japan compared to the U.S.. It appeared, that from the comments, there was some confusion.
taj
Consdering how they pollute the auditory environment with their loud-speaker trucks, I only thinks it fair if we get to pollute their posters in turn.
techall
Yamamoto approached the man and asked him politely to stop. The man simply replied "Can't you see I'm peeing, here?" and continued to empty his bladder.
Why continue to use the facsimile when you have the real article right there?
nandakandamanda
There is no such thing as a "quiet country road", especially when a politician in his election car is driving around the area.
Ronald F Stark
A real politician who actually cared about those he represented would have taken the opportunity to ask the man why he disliked him so. A real politician would have listened to the man's concerns and complaints, because he was elected to represent the people. A real politician would have considered this a learning opportunity. Wait! What am I saying? This Japan, and there are no REAL politicians! Having the guy arrested proves he's just another pathetic loser.
WilliB
Good grief, now we have a Les Majeste law in Japan.... and not for the royal family, but for .... wait for it.... Japanese politicians??
Somebody pinch me.
Fadamor
Probably was arrested for urinating in public. The fact that the politician saw it makes it "public".
ka_chan
So Kei Yamamoto admits he is a hypocrite.
iasia
Ronald F StarkNov. 15, 2012 - 06:44PM JST A real politician who actually cared about those he represented would have taken the opportunity to ask the man why he disliked him so. A real politician would have listened to the man's concerns and complaints, because he was elected to represent the people. A real politician would have considered this a learning opportunity. Wait! What am I saying? This Japan, and there are no REAL politicians! Having the guy arrested proves he's just another pathetic loser.
Is that what real politicians in your home country do? Be honest now. This wasn't some disagreement over policy at some type of [i]meet and greet[/i] with the electorate. The pissee knew exactly what he was doing and why? This was his ideal of a political statement. He figured nobody would catch it because it was late at night and because probably nobody would care. Unfortunately for him, he literally got caught with his pants down. Like it or not, when you sign up to collect a public paycheck, you're always going to be expected to behave as an adult even when you're not on the clock.
This kind of stuff is not unique to Japan. It happens in other countries as well. Instead of p'ing on election posters, etc., they're ripping them down, or writing graffiti all over them. People really need to stop trying to turn this into another "This is why the rest of the world is so much better than Japan" issue.
Lowly
How do we, or the cops, know this is true?? Did they do a genetic test of the pee to prove it was his?
Too bad he didn't have the presence of mind to tell the cops he was drunk and couldn't remember doing it.
AustPaul
Were there any independent witnesses? It could be argued either way in court..., Funny story though...