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Who looks like the former President of Finland? An unexpected case of look-alikes

Kay Jun 6, 2012
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In Japan, we say that there are (at least) three people in the world who look exactly like you. Well, we seem to have found 2, possibly 3 publicly recognizable figures who look very much like each other. Could they be doppelgängers?

It has actually been rumored for some time that Japanese comedienne Haruna Kondo of the popular comic duo “Harisenbon” strongly resembles former Finnish President Tarja Kaarina Halonen. Well, now it’s official – the Finnish Embassy has publicly recognized the fact!

The Finnish embassy in Japan has a twitter account which they use to disseminate various information on Finland to the Japanese public every day. Their tweets on topics such as the food and language of Finland have undoubtedly brought Finnish culture closer to the people of Japan.

It is on this twitter account that the Finnish embassy publicly tweeted on May 16th, “As many people already know, Ms. Haruna Kondo of Harisenbon closely resembles former Finnish President, Ms. Tarja Halonen.” The tweet was accompanied by a picture of former President Halonen. We have the pictures below so that you can judge for yourself whether the two look alike.

▼Haruna Kondo (left) and Tarja Kaarina Halonen (Right)

We also have a video featuring Harisenbon for your amusement.

So, what do you think? Japanese internet users responded to the Embassy’s unexpected tweet with comments such as “Wow, they do look alike!”, “I didn’t expect such similarity, LOL!” and “Seriously, I thought the picture was Haruna Kondo herself, LOL! ” We have to admit, the two do look alike, from individual features such as the eyes and mouth to the outline of their faces.

Incidentally, it is widely known that Haruna Kondo also resembles the Japanese actor Takuzo Kadono, who is famous for appearing in the long running hit Japanese T.V. drama “Wataru Seken Wa Oni Bakari” (“The World is Full of Real-life Demons”). So much so, in fact, that the joke “I’m not Takuzo Kadono! No way!” has become a well-established part of her comedy repertoire. What’s more, when the two appeared together on T.V., Takuzo Kadono even responded by saying “I’m not Haruna! No way!” So, everyone seems to be in agreement that the resemblance between the two is real. Here’s a collection of pictures featuring Takuzo Kadono, by the way, along with some pictures of Haruna Kondo for comparison.

So, it seems we have three unrelated individuals who look very much like each other. Perhaps there is one more look-alike out there in the world. Well, regardless of whether there is or not, we’re hoping that Haruna Kondo may add “I’m not Halonen! No way!” to her repertoire one of these days, and maybe even say it in Finnish! Now, that would give us a good laugh!

Source: Twitter @FinEmbTokyo