Gaasyy Higashitani’s Next Move in His Battle with Rakuten Chairman Mikitani

If I become a politician, I can fight Mikitani on equal terms.

Yoshikazu Azumaya of “Gaasyy-ch,” an exposé-style YouTube personality who is running for the upper house of the Diet in the July 10 election, has been engaged in a fierce war with Rakuten Chairman Hiroshi Mikitani during the election period.

The other day, Higashitani told a story about how “M”, the president of a company, had a party for Ukrainian women who were in a difficult situation due to the war. Mikitani then asked, “What are you trying to say?”

What are you trying to say? Why can’t we have a party to help Ukrainian people forget about the war when they are suffering from it? You’re a hyena, you know that? (Original text in Japanese only)

A tweet that could be seen as a rebuttal to Higashitani’s statement.

He even said that he had found out about Mikitani’s relationship with a certain big-name politician and told him the place and date of the party, and that they had also partied at the COVID-19 crisis. Moreover, the politician is said to be someone close to Prime Minister Kishida. Considering the specifics, it is possible that a very close source tipped him off.

In a live broadcast on March 3, Yoshikazu also said that he had spoken with eight persons on the phone related to the incident. It seems that about two of them are making arrangements to appear on the show. Of course, the details are unknown, but attention within and outside of the industry is growing. As of the 4th, there has been no response from Mr. Mikitani or the politicians in response to these broadcasts.

The reason behind these extreme statements may be to draw attention to the Upper House election in which he is running. In a live broadcast, Higashitani wore a T-shirt that looked like a parody of Batman.

He said, “This is how I am now. I’m just a joker, a dark hero. But that joker could turn into Batman. If I become a politician.”

He called for support.

According to the mid-term situation survey of the Upper House election by newspapers, NHK party is at the stage of considering the possibility of winning a seat in the House. Meanwhile, businessman Hiroyuki Nishimura, a.k.a. Hiroyuki, during a live broadcast on his YouTube channel, said:

In response to the question, “What would happen if Mr. Gaasyy, who is a hot topic right now, became a Diet member?”

He answered, “He won’t become a member of the Diet. He explained that even if he gets 300,000 votes, he may fall out of the race, except for the LDP.”

Higashitani’s former nemesis, YouTubers, also attended the NHK party’s street speeches. Will Gaasyy Yoshikazu, who calls himself a “scoundrel,” be able to continue to attract attention by any means necessary and win a seat in the Diet?