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Japanese Twitter users surprised that the Foreign Minister did something cool

Master Blaster Apr 12, 2019
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It took about a decade, but the Abe administration is finally figuring out how to use Twitter.

Back in 2015, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shocked the nation when he declared during a parliament session that he pays his Facebook and Twitter fees. Later that same year, Abe accidentally @’ed one of the founding members of Twitter while trying to reach the Indian Prime Minister.

It was all enough to lead us to believe that the head of state wasn’t too keen on using social media, but that was OK. In a large majority of cases, interacting with politicians on Twitter tends to be about as cool and breezy as doing so with your parents. Plus, this way we can feel free to mock and complain about them freely without worrying about their prying eyes.

For example, in a recent report regarding Iran-Japan relations, Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Kono said that Japan will not cut ties despite pressure from the U.S. to do so.

河野外相「米国に追随しない」　イラン革命防衛隊のテロ組織指定でhttps://t.co/QfI6EWxCJA

　→日本と友好関係にあるイランは投資や経済協力などでも結びつきが強く、河野氏は「イランはこの地域の安定に必要だ。少し意見交換していきたい」と述べた

— 産経ニュース (@Sankei_news) April 9, 2019

This prompted Twitter-user Katten Ni Hoshu (@kattennihosyu) to declare him “The Strongest Foreign Minister” and photoshop his face onto James Bond in a Quantum of Solace poster.

https://twitter.com/kattenihosyu/status/1115577660795580417

In all fairness it is a bold move for Japan to defend its longstanding friendly relationship with Iran and risk rocky future negotiations with the U.S. as a result. After Washington declared Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to be a “terrorist organization” Kono held a press conference to say that Japan does not share that point of view, adding that he believes “Iran is necessary for the stability of the region.”

It’s a controversial decision too though, so Katten Ni Hoshu would probably expect some blowback from his Bond meme. What he probably didn’t expect, however, was a criticism by Taro Kono himself who tweeted, “No. A Foreign Minister loses the moment he picks up a gun.”

いや、外務大臣は武器を手にした時点で負けでしょ。 https://t.co/2I0ODuGCoe

— 河野太郎 (@konotarogomame) April 9, 2019

Refreshingly wise words, which we don’t get much from politicians these days it seems. They resonated well with other Twitter users as well who flooded the post with over 17,000 comments, including:

“I never though I would like a Tweet by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but he’s right. The weapon of the Foreign Minister is negotiation.”
“A Foreign Minister’s weapons are a suit and business card.”
“Minister Kono is the best! We need a Foreign Minister to create peace.”
“I haven’t heard a sentiment like Kono’s for a long time.”
“C-cool? I feel weird saying that about a politician.”
“How about you tell that to Abe instead?”
“Of course a Foreign Minister shouldn’t have a gun in his hands. That’s what soldiers are for.”

Sure, the stance that a Foreign Minister shouldn’t be actively pursuing war isn’t really the most profound concept we’ve ever heard. But in this era of politicians ambiguously praising Hitler and tsunamis, it kind of feels like a deep thought.

It’s also considerably shocking to see a high-ranking Japanese politician be able to competently use Twitter properly. This is in an administration where the man in charge of cyber-security for the Olympics has never touched a computer.

All things considered, it seems that the bar is about as low as it can get and the window is wide open for an eager Japanese politician with moderate common sense and basic computer literacy to really sweep the population off its feet.

Source: Twitter/@kattennihosyu, Twitter/@konotarogomame, My Game News Flash
Featured image: Twitter/@kattennihosyu
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