His nickname is “Bocchi-kun”…! Other parties are also upset by Rikken Democratic Party of Japan’s Councilor Konishi’s “monkey comment.
The executive board is furious with Konishi. The executive committee is furious with Konishi, saying, “How dare he do such a thing at a critical time for the nationwide local elections. He is the type of person who is proud and shows off more than anyone else, and he just wants to be recognized. It is ironic that Konishi’s most notable moment as a politician was this firestorm.
On April 11, at a meeting of the standing board of directors of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, it was decided that Hiroyuki Konishi, 51, a member of the House of Councilors, would be given a “secretary-general’s warning” for criticizing media outlets such as Fuji TV and the Sankei Shimbun.
During the current Diet session, Konishi had been making his presence felt by taking the lead in pursuit of Sanae Takaichi, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, over the issue of the Broadcasting Law’s text. However, as the situation gradually became more and more uncertain, perhaps out of impatience, Konishi’s own gaffes have drawn frowns from within his own party.
Within the opposition parties, there were harsh criticisms of Konishi, saying that the punishment was too lenient and that he did not have the character to reflect on his actions. A veteran secretary of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) said, “He is not a bureaucrat.
Perhaps he has an elitist attitude, which is common among lawmakers who come from the bureaucracy, or perhaps he has a condescending attitude toward others. For this reason, I have never seen any councilors in the party who are on friendly terms with him. Some people even call him “Botch-kun” because he is always alone. Even party staffers and reporters are so blatantly dismissive when the subject of him comes up, and he is not well-liked in any way.”
After dropping out of Tokushima University’s Faculty of Medicine, Konishi attended the University of Tokyo, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (now the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications), and Columbia Graduate School before being elected for the first time in 2010, and is currently serving his third term. In contrast to his spectacular career, however, he has not received sufficient recognition within the party.
At a meeting held within the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),” he said, “Senator Konishi was just talking about the Security Treaty Bill. It was just at the time when Senator Konishi had published a book on the Security Bill, and he suddenly started handing out his book and promoting it before the meeting. After three to four minutes of his eloquent talk about his knowledge, one of the executives warned him, ‘You need to shut up for a minute. I will never forget the blank expression on Mr. Konishi’s face at that moment.
From then on, Councilor Konishi seemed to feel that he was being unfairly underappreciated, and he told everyone around him, “Why am I so underappreciated? He must have been getting impatient as his pursuit of Mr. Takaichi’s case also began to spin out of control little by little. I think that the attention he was getting and the fact that he himself was getting worked up led to his gaffe.
