Tarō Asō, current Secretary General of Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party, has been cited as a frontrunner to replace resigning PM Shinzo Abe. He has been quoted as generally reading 10-20 manga per week and is particularly noted as being a large fan of Peach-Pit’s Rozen Maiden, picking up the nickname “Rozen Aso” in the process. He spoke at a large campaign rally nearly a year ago in the otaku-centric Akihabara neighborhood where the majority of his speech involved anime, manga, and other Japanese popular culture.
In related news, shares in manga-related stocks jumped considerably on news of Aso’s possible ascension to PM, with Broccoli up 71% yesterday.
Sources:
Reuters
ANN
Japan News Review
