Taro Yamamoto

Who is Taro Yamamoto?

Taro Yamamoto is a Japanese actor and politician.

In 2008, he said on a TV show that the Liancourt Rocks, disputed between Japan and Korea, should be given to Korea.

In 2011, he announced that he "would no longer be a silent accomplice of the terrorist nation Japan", and became a protester in the anti-nuclear movement. Yamamoto, a resident of Tokyo, flew to Saga Prefecture and attempted to break into the governor's office to protest the restart of a power plant. He chanted phrases such as, "Protect our children!" "We don't need nuclear energy!" "Come out, Governor!" He did not get an audience with the governor, but said he was glad that he came.

He attempted to run for a seat in the House of Representatives during the 2012 general election, but did not succeed, winning only 25% of the votes representing for the Tokyo 8th district. He began an independent campaign to be elected to the House of Councillors in its 2013 election, and was elected on July 21.

On October 31, 2013, Yamamoto handed a political letter to the Emperor at a non-political garden party. The letter was immediately passed to the chamberlain and was never read by the Emperor. The letter reportedly contained his complaints about the handling of the nuclear disaster. The Huffington Post reported that the action may have violated the Constitution of Japan, since the Emperor is not allowed to involve himself in political issues. The Japanese Communist Party chairman Kazuo Shii inferred that Yamamoto "didn't understand the Constitution". Various political leaders expressed their disappointment in Yamamoto's abuse of his legislative position, as well as Beat Takeshi, who called the incident "somewhat of an insult". However, the manga artist Kobayashi Yoshinori approved of the incident. On November 8th, Yamamoto received an official reprimand from the Speakers of the House of Councillors, Masaaki Yamazaki. It was also announced that he will be banned from any kind of imperial events during his entire term.