- Koichi Toyama
nihongo|Koichi Toyama|外山恒一|Toyama Kōichi|, born July 26, 1970 is a
Japan esestreet musician , a leftist political activist who was a candidate for the governor ofTokyo in 2007. He was born in Kagoshima Prefecture, and lives in Fukuoka. He gained notoriety with his fervent election speech, which was posted on the American based websiteYouTube . Out of fourteen candidates in the election, Toyama placed eighth with 15,059 votes (0.27 percent of total votes cast).Described by the announcer as an "Extreme Left Anti-Establishment" figure, Koichi began his controversial statement by denouncing Japan as a "horrible nation" and rejecting any possibility for reforms. Declaring most of the voters to be his "enemies", Koichi calls upon a minority to rise up. He closes his speech by calling for the overthrow of the
Japan eseGovernment and making an obscene gesture toward the camera. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOuumGX-6uc Youtube: speech by Koichi Toyama] ]Another Koichi video, from 2008, saw him giving a monologue in which he claims as the United States has a global
hegemony , it is an injustice that despite being a citizen of what he calls one of America's "51st states", he is not eligible to vote, let alone stand as a candidate, in the election.References
*cite web |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmafp/is_200704/ai_n18793703 |title=Cabbie, dilettante and prolific inventor in fray to lead Tokyo |accessdate=2007-07-30 |format=article |work=
Agence France-Presse
*cite web |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmafp/is_200704/ai_n18793546 |title=Tokyo requests YouTube delete candidates' speeches |accessdate=2007-07-30 |format=article |work=Agence France-Presse
*cite web |url=http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200704050100.html
title=Unified elections 2007: Not all is lost |accessdate=2007-07-30 |format=web article |work=Asahi.comExternal links
* [http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZqOkeYbB0 Youtube: 2008 United States Presidential Candidate from Japan]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOuumGX-6uc Youtube: speech by Koichi Toyama]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr9_uLlH3yk Youtube: speech by Koichi Toyama (another copy of the same speech)]
* [http://www.warewaredan.com/ Toyama's Official Website]
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