SJJ48 (Seijika Joshi 48) announced, lead by ex HKT48 member Mao Yamamoto and actress Ayaka Otsu

政治家女子48党【SJJ48】の公式ホームページです。

政治家女子48党【SJJ48】の公式ホームページです。

sjj48.com

...so they aren't an actual idol group but a political party "Seijika Joshi 48 To" translates to "Party Politician Girls 48"), long story short seems the "NHK party" collapsed and what was left of them decided to merge with this other party, their political goal is to defunct "NHK" (Japan's version of the BBC)

their president is actress Ayaka Otsu and their candidate for the next elections is going to be ex HKT member Mao Yamamoto

kinda strange but i guess having former idols running as politicians is a "as expected from Japan" moment?

YouTuber-turned politician GaaSyy likely to be expelled from parliament

The lawmaker's probable dismissal comes after he failed to show up at a plenary session to apologize for — fittingly enough — failing to attend parliament.

www.japantimes.co.jp

NHK Party leader to step down over YouTuber member's absence from Japan's Diet - The Mainichi

TOKYO -- Takashi Tachibana, the head of Japan's NHK Party, announced on March 8 that he would step down as leader to take responsibility for party mem

mainichi.jp

Quote from Kreatin

wtf

i this is really affiliated with the akb48 group?

fortunately? / unfortunately? they aren't

i do wonder if they are going to get a lawsuit but i guess you can't trademark the number "48" so they are probably fine

Quote from BEG4DAWIN

So why do they dislike Japan public television?

from Wikipedia:

Quote

The party mainly exists to counter bad behaviour by NHK license fee money collectors, who Tachibana says have connections to the yakuza.

The party issues a special sticker to protect citizen's properties from these collectors, and has a call center to help people avoid paying the license fee.

While it is required by law to make a contract with NHK and pay if one owns a device capable of receiving the NHK signal (for example, a regular TV), the law does not impose any punishment for nonpayment of the license fee.

Lacking a means of criminal prosecution, NHK has resorted to using debt collectors to pressure people for payment, and Tachibana wants to eliminate the license fee system and make NHK like any other subscription television channel, where only those that want to watch it must pay

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the stuff with the NHK collectors is real, sometimes they behave like thugs rather than government workers

NHK fee collector leaves threatening notes on people’s doorsteps

Many people in Japan have long had a tumultuous relationship with the country’s public broadcaster, NHK. Ever since the government decided it was the station’s…

japantoday.com

Quote

And is the dude just using the girls to win an election.

probably although is worth mention that this guy is currently hiding in Dubai, part of the reason as to why he quit is because he can't go back to Japan

also Ayaka Otsu was the president of "Seijika Joshi" and now the head of the party union, i see very little reason for her to be the puppet of a guy that can't come back to the country

Quote from katahtattat

the idol being running reminds me of this idol from a few years ago.

https://japantoday.com/categor…d-shibuya-ward-councillor

seems she is still holding the position!

i know there are former entertainers in elected positions but i don't know if there are any from a big idol group, honestly no idea what the Japanese public is going to think of them

i was checking SJJ48's page and they actually have 48 members making their group's name more accurate than the actual AKB48

政治家女子48党【SJJ48】の公式ホームページです。

政治家女子48党【SJJ48】の公式ホームページです。

sjj48.com

also unlike AKB their Senbatsus are endorsed by the government