Japanese YouTube star ousted from parliament after not showing up

opening ceremony of an ordinary session of the Diet
(Image credit: YUICHI YAMAZAKI / Contributor/ Getty Images)

A YouTube star who became a lawmaker in Japan last year was fired from his position after failing to show up to any parliamentary sessions since being elected last year, CNN reports.

At a plenary session Wednesday, Japan's upper house voted to expel Yoshikazu Higashitani due to his continued absence, "the first time it has taken such a step in more than seven decades," CNN adds. Before being elected to the Upper House of Japan's parliament in July 2022, he was known for running a YouTube channel covering celebrity gossip under the online alias GaaSyy,

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Theara Coleman, The Week US

Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news.