Koichi Toyama | |
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外山 恒一 | |
 Kohichi in 2017 | |
| Born | (1970-07-26)July 26, 1970 (age 55) |
| Occupation | Political activist |
Koichi Toyama (Japanese:外山 恒一,Hepburn:Toyama Kōichi; born July 26, 1970) is a Japanesestreet musician and a fringe political activist who was a candidate for the governor ofTokyo in the year 2007. He was born inKagoshima Prefecture and lives inFukuoka. He gained notoriety with his provocative2007 Tokyo gubernatorial election speech.[1][2]
While his background was an intense revolt against the formal high-school education system,[3] he has been described as having aleft-wing history and labeled anihilist.[3] Koichi has written several books.[3] Toyama describes himself as a fascist.[4]
As a candidate forGovernor of Tokyo in 2007, Toyama Koichi was entitled to record a 5-minute televised campaign statement, during which he denounced majority rule and called upon Japan's political minority to join him in overthrowing the government.
In response to the viral spread of Toyama Koichi's statement online, the Tokyo election commission asked YouTube to remove election speeches of candidates, allegedly to "ensure fairness" among candidates, because YouTube had "allowed only certain candidates" speeches "to be viewed freely on the site", according to an election official. According to Japanese election law, the broadcasting of speeches is only allowed on public broadcasterNHK.[5]
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