INTERVIEW/ Tomohisa Hirai: Shinji Ishimaru clip goes viral and becomes an object of ridicule

Shinji Ishimaru, the former mayor of Akitakata in Hiroshima Prefecture, surprised everyone when he came second in the Tokyo gubernatorial election in July.

Ishimaru's fame has now gone beyond the 1,658,363 votes he won, thanks to the combative attitude he displayed during the media's livestream coverage of the preliminary election results.

The former mayor is familiar with the power of social media and used it to gain support in his candidacy for the office of governor of Tokyo.

However, he was ridiculed by people who witnessed his unique interaction with reporters and commentators during the live media programs on the evening of July 7 during the vote count.

Because of his bad reputation, Ishimaru became a laughing stock on the Internet overnight.

Why did his way of answering the questions spread so widely on the Internet? To what extent did it influence public opinion?

Tomohisa Hirai, an associate professor at Nihon University and author of a book on the sociology of Internet culture, shared some thoughts on this topic in a recent interview with The Asahi Shimbun.

Ishimaru’s style of interaction is called “Ishimaru Koubun” or Ishimaru’s style of interaction.

During the live stream, Ishimaru questioned a commentator who had asked him a question. He did not answer the questions of the reporters and commentators in the live stream, but asked them further questions himself.

Ishimaru sometimes refused to answer the reporter's questions because he found them “strange.”

The scene became a hot topic of discussion on social media and was compared to an annoying customer being served by a waiter in a restaurant. Ishimaru instantly became an internet meme when the video started trending.

The following are excerpts from the interview:

Ask: Why did Ishimaru Koubun’s video go so viral?

Hirai: Following the livestream, comedian Ryo Fukawa posted on X, formerly Twitter: “I'm worried if Ishimaru will even be able to order from Subway (sandwich shop).”

The comedian's post led to the incident being widely ridiculed and even becoming an internet meme.

The most scrutinized scene of the livestream was when Ishimaru and a commentator discussed the definition of “seijiya,” an offensive term for a politician who only has his own personal gain in mind.

The discussion came to nothing because Ishimaru kept repeating the same thing, going around in circles and avoiding questions.

Typically, only part of a long video goes viral on social media.

In this case, the entire Ishimaru Koubun was posted in a way that ridiculed Ishimaru.

Ironically, however, the livestream interview earned Ishimaru Koubun praise before it went viral as it captured the scene of him arguing with city assembly members and reporters.

So we saw two sides of the coin, both fans and haters, which led to both positive and negative publicity for Ishimaru.

Q: According to the media, Ishimaru frequently fomented conflict before and during the election campaign and displayed an authoritarian demeanor in politics.

However, this had no impact on public opinion, and Ishimaru was, on the contrary, able to increase his support during the election campaign.

However, the incident with Ishimaru Koubun seemed to change his luck.

A: Ishimaru had positioned himself as a rebel against the long-standing power structure and portrayed politicians and the media in a bad light.

He attracted mainly young people who were not interested in politics.

These young people are not listening to the mainstream media, even though they warned voters to remain cautious about Ishimaru's style of politics.

Ishimaru Koubun was initially ridiculed by people who were critical of him.

But as it spread as an internet meme, it became a humorous story of a less political nature, making it known to a wide audience, regardless of their mindset or political affiliation.

Q: As Ishimaru Koubun became a hot topic, “Shinjiro Koubun,” a parody of former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi’s speech style, attracted renewed attention.

Koizumi is repeatedly mentioned in polls as a potential prime minister, but after the Shinjiro Koubun was published, his approval rating stopped rising.

A: Both Koizumi's friendly demeanor and Shinjiro Koubun's way of speaking to the audience often led to ridicule.

Here on the Internet we can see both sides of the same coin.

Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Shinjiro's father, often used catchy words and slogans such as “Smash the Liberal Democratic Party” or “Opponent”.

The situation regarding politics and word choice has changed dramatically over the last twenty years, from monosyllabic political statements on television to internet memes that are mocked and shared online.

Many politicians and candidates became hot topics on the Internet, but they failed to attract attention in the real world.

This time, however, Ishimaru was able to gain many votes by expanding his support through the Internet, without any organizations participating in the election.

Although he is neither a “hereditary candidate” nor a television personality, he still managed to attract many votes, which can be a form of grassroots democracy.

Nowadays, a lot of online content that attracts attention is also quite aggressive.

The problems resulting from aggressiveness became apparent at the Ishimaru Koubun.

I believe that mainstream opinion on the Internet and politics in the real world have reached a turning point since Ishimaru Koubun pointed out the pros and cons.

Q: Is it possible to point out problems that are not caused by ridicule, as was the case with Ishimaru Koubun? I hope that critical voices are heard in a positive way and constructive discussions take place.

A: Ishimaru has a strong distrust of current politicians and the mass media, regardless of which party these politicians belong to.

They believe that politicians from the government camp would ultimately make the final decisions on all issues, even after appropriate discussions.

Therefore, people like Ishimaru's supporters do not even try to participate in the discussions.

They believe that portraying a liberal sense of justice has the opposite effect to what they intend.

They therefore prefer humorous stories on the internet to direct discussions, as the stories on the internet would not widen the gap between them and the existing powers. This also maintains a certain connection between them and the powers.

Claims of neoliberalism that contradicts the ruling powers have so far been widely disseminated when spread via the Internet.

I am convinced that this trend will continue in the future.

But seeing stories similar to Ishimaru Koubun's, which contain “some dangerous aspects such as abuse of power,” people began to feel a sense of crisis.

I believe the way people think about the majority opinion on the Internet is starting to change.