Kimi Onoda, the 43-year-old Minister of Economic Security, has been making waves recently, especially with Sanae Takaichi's new appointment. Her past in the gaming industry has definitely put her in the spotlight.
But here's the kicker: Onoda, a self-professed doujin fan, dropped a special post on X today to celebrate Comiket's 50th anniversary as C107 kicked off. She expressed her deep regret about not being able to attend due to her current public office, and naturally, that post blew up!
Onoda's X post read: "I can't make it to this year's Winter Grand Festival for the 50th anniversary (given my position, security would just be a huge hassle for everyone involved)." She then added, "Wishing everyone good luck in their 'battles' and a huge congrats on Comiket's 50th anniversary!"
Turns out, Minister Onoda is a long-time doujin enthusiast! Last year, she even attended C105 and posted about her nostalgic student-day memories of the event, right down to the unique vibe of leaving the venue. Talk about a true "heavy otaku"!
When she joined the cabinet this past October, sparking buzz, Liberal Democratic Party Senator and famous manga artist Ken Akamatsu chimed in on X. He revealed, "As many online outlets have reported, she's a genuine otaku. She used to work professionally in promotion and production, primarily for female-oriented drama CDs and BL CDs."
While some netizens playfully suggested she could just cosplay or even set up her own booth someday, many others couldn't help but lament: "The reason she can't attend is 'she became a cabinet minister'..." "That's an extremely VIP excuse!" "You can really feel the 'I wanna go!' vibe coming from someone in such a ridiculously high-profile position." "Even her otaku pursuits are restricted – that's gotta sting..." Clearly, everyone's feeling Minister Onoda's pain of wanting to be there but being unable to.
I mean, with a background like hers and now being a Prime Minister's cabinet member, everything she says and does is under the microscope. But missing an event for this reason? That's definitely a rare one!