Japanese MP released a kissing video with Takahashi Sanae, while criticizing China's AI tools, and then boasted about it!

In February 2026, Nara City Council member Harada Masahiro uploaded an "explosive" video: the footage showed him and the current Japanese Prime Minister Takahashi Sanae in the back of a public event "intimately kissing." The video quickly sparked heated discussions on the internet in Japan and China. Harada then posted that "This is a fake created by Chinese netizens using AI, seriously infringing on my and PM Takahashi's reputation!" - yet he himself was the one who first released this video.

Harada Masahiro, born in 1991, has a criminal record for theft and obstructing business operations. This "troublemaker influencer" previously gained attention by filming provocative behavior such as provoking homeless people and stealing raw fish from supermarkets, and was arrested multiple times and had his accounts banned.

The turning point came in July 2024, when he moved to Nara, and keenly captured the growing anti-foreign sentiment in Japanese society, especially the negative discourse towards Chinese tourists. He began to wait at Nara Park, specifically filming interactions between Chinese tourists and deer, and through malicious editing and selective quotation, fabricated false content such as "Chinese people abuse deer" and "kick baby deer." Each of these videos had viewership numbers exceeding 20 million, quickly accumulating over 400,000 followers for him.

In July 2025, he ran on the campaign slogan of "saving Nara deer from foreign tourists," and successfully became a council member of Nara City, receiving 8,320 votes. Notably, he rarely mentioned urban affairs, economy or livelihood, and his core demand was only one: restricting "rule-breaking" foreign tourists, particularly pointing out Chinese citizens. Such rhetoric precisely hit the anxiety of some local residents against the backdrop of the yen's depreciation, over-tourism, and local financial strain. Now he has again capitalized on the traffic related to Takahashi Sanae. It is unknown what Takahashi Sanae thinks of this scene?

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1857155883451404/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.