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The story
On the 5th, Kyoko Ota, leader of the Democratic Party for the People’s Fukuoka Prefectural Chapter (and a prefectural assembly member), announced her intention to resign as leader. She cited responsibility for a string of problems within the prefectural assembly, as well as the fact that during a 2024 visit to Thailand, she struck a pose on stage at a social gathering imitating the bow scene from the movie “Titanic” — photos of which went viral on social media and drew heavy criticism. In the thread, defenders arguing “resigning over a photo alone is excessive” clashed head-on with critics saying “the real problem is not realizing you were goofing off on a publicly funded trip,” and the discussion expanded further into the broader question of taxpayer money spent on these inspection trips, along with comparisons to lawmakers from other parties who struck similar poses in the past.
Democratic Party for the People Fukuoka Chapter’s Kyoko Ota to resign as leader… showed off “Titanic” pose on overseas inspection trip, “I feel remorse”: Regional News : Yomiuri Shimbun
On the 5th, Kyoko Ota, leader of the Democratic Party for the People’s Fukuoka Prefectural Chapter (a prefectural assembly member), revealed her intention to resign as leader. Ota told the Yomiuri Shimbun she was stepping down because “I take seriously, as a member of the assembly, the string of problems we’ve had in the prefectural assembly. I also feel remorse over my past conduct on an overseas inspection trip that was criticized on social media.”
Ota had visited Thailand in 2024 as part of activities by a voluntary lawmakers’ league. Together with several other lawmakers, she struck a pose on stage at a social gathering, recreating the bow scene from the movie “Titanic” featuring its two leads. Photos of this spread across social media, fueling growing criticism.
Source: yomiuri.co.jp / original article here
What people said
Seriously, this.
Demanding a resignation just because people didn't like a photo is going way too far.
It happened back in 2024 and she hasn't resigned this whole time — how do you not get that this is a completely separate matter? Something wrong with your brain?
Same goes for the Re: #27 post.
That's because you don't get that she was goofing around on public money.
If party members tell her to step down, that's only natural.
This year they went on an inspection trip to study Thai massage — 10 people, 5 days, 4,839,000 yen.
And of course, that's taxpayer money.
Nah, if anything she's shining bright in this one.
Check the background —
Pretty well made, honestly 🤗
Can't believe they left evidence like this lying around.
Lower our taxes already.
If the trip had actually produced real results, she could easily brush off the criticism.
Guess it produced absolutely nothing.
Re: #20
Go ahead, show us the inspection report.
Male lawmakers, ruling party or opposition, tend to keep it together on this front.
Yeah, true.
That's been true forever, no matter the party.
It won't change unless voters get smarter — and that's never happening.
Honestly, there's no need to "train" lawmakers in the first place.
I think it'd be better if only experts from each field became lawmakers — people with the pride and conviction to spend the rest of their lives in public service.
If it was your principle or conviction, stick to it.
Probably because she got pressured by the Prime Minister's Office.
https://www.news-postseven.com/uploads/2023/07/31/matsukawa_rui-tw.jpg
So it was basically just an overseas vacation?
Wait… don't tell me it's a pun — "Thai"-tanic!? (タイ = Thailand, タイタニック = Titanic — a wordplay)
Wait, is that seriously it??
Do you not survive if you defy him? Is he some kind of emperor?
Well, if you just do as you're told you get free overseas trips.
Ruling party or opposition, they all just want their own taste of the sweet stuff — couldn't care less about the people of the prefecture.
Background and Key Points of This Story
Ota’s stated reasons for resigning go beyond the “Titanic pose” criticism alone — they also include responsibility for a string of problems within the prefectural assembly. The overseas inspection trip in question was the 2024 visit to Thailand, and some comments point out that this year’s inspection trip to study Thai massage cost 4,839,000 yen in taxpayer money for 10 people over 5 days, suggesting the underlying issue isn’t just whether one photo was appropriate, but a broader distrust of how public funds get spent on these trips overall. In the thread, reactions like “don’t resign over something that minor” and “if you have convictions, stick to them” went head-to-head with others saying “it’d be stranger not to realize you were goofing off on public money,” leaving the question of whether resignation was warranted split down the middle. Some also pointed out that lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties, regardless of gender, have struck similar poses in the past, meaning this case isn’t uniquely exceptional. Many comments wryly noted how such photos tend to live on forever as “evidence,” with the discussion ultimately circling back to deeper doubts about the very purpose of these inspection trips.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (News Speed+) thread “Democratic Party for the People Fukuoka Chapter’s Kyoko Ota to resign as leader… showed off “Titanic” pose on overseas inspection trip, “I feel remorse”.”
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