Osaka politician has man arrested for peeing on his campaign poster

imagine all the stolen bicycles that remained on the loose while the police devoted their time and resources to this heinous crime

Good to see the cops tackling the really tough cases! I wonder how long they interrogated him?

Seeing its popularity, I've often wondered, "What do you have to do in Japan to get arrested for pissing in public?"

Now I know.

Yamamoto immediately contacted the police who came and arrested the man

What police in the entire civilized world have time, or would even entertain the idea of rushing to the spot of a man urinating on a poster, on a "quiet countryside road....?"

You wonder what's wrong with JCops...? Here's reason number 2025!

With all the other crimes, organized crime, theft, ect... And they're going to act as this politicians personal anti-defamation squad... Ridiculous....

It's one thing if the guy is Urinating in broad daylight in front of Tokyo station... Yes... Then we have an issue of someone exposing themselves', an Indecent Act... but this is out in the middle of no-where...

Funny! But a crime????? Too funny!

He should have wet the politician's hush puppies for good measure....

Another idiotic story from Osaka. Seriously, Hashimoto needs to re-educate the adults in Osaka and not the kids!!

Unfortunately for him, who should be cruising by at that exact moment but the politician himself. Boy! This is classic! Not even the best comedians from Yoshimoto Kogyo can come up with great comedy like this!

Meh......fake news story taken from the tweets of a J-polititian who wants to make a name for himself. Cue Hashimoto to make the crime of poster peeing punishable by beheading.

But before we write the politician off as just another stiff in a suit, he admits that, “had it not been my poster, I probably would have laughed, too…” on his Twitter feed.

What an a-hole.

Trying to ruin a guy's life because of his pride? The guy might have been an a-hole too, but Yamamoto looks like a scumbag.

Who wouldn't want to spit, urinate on or otherwise deface those campaign posters with the fake smiles and mock sincerity? I know i do! Thumbs up for the man, and agree with Probie, it stopped being funny when Yamamoto called the cops. Tweeting about it makes him look even more pathetic. He could've made himself look better by writing: "saw a man urinating on a campaign poster. Happened to be mine. It's indicative of deep mistrust of politicians by the regular citizens. We need to work harder to gain their trust." THAT might get him some re-SPECT!

Thanks...needed a laugh today.

How that is considered an arrestable offence is beyond me.

As the article states the man had previously been 'caught' spitting on the politician's posters, it is not beyond possibility that it was no coincidence Yamamoto 'passed' when he was peeing on one. It's not unlikely that Yamamoto is out following the city hall employee to catch him in the act. Perhaps there is even a case for a counter complaint of stalking or harrassment

Freedom of sPEEch? Not here...

noticed the similarity between the face on the pee-soaked poster and that of the pissed-off politician

Surely the similarity was between the face on the pissed-on poster and that of the pissed-off politician

where can we "like" this article

Scott DonaldNov. 15, 2012 - 12:27PM JST Yes is seems that while there is a constitutional right for Freedom of Expression in Japan, it all to often circumvented by other laws. This is counter-intuitive to the U.S. application of constitutional rights.

This is Japan after all, so it really makes no difference how the U.S. interprets or applies it's own Constitution.

Moreover, plenty of constituional rights in the U.S., not just the Freedom of Expression, are being circumvented by other laws. It's done all the time. Sometimes it's a big news story, sometimes you never hear about it. But, it's happening all the time. Rights are always being interpreted and interpretations are always subjective.

There is no such thing as a "quiet country road", especially when a politician in his election car is driving around the area.

way to coincidental... and the the Internet triggers were ready.

ahhh an action that all of us can relate to (not the arrest) But surely number 2s would be more to the point... and ironic too as that is what politicians generally do to us the public.

@asai. I agree on both accounts. Yes, this is the Japanese constitution and, yes, laws are subject to interpretation. My comment did not suggest that U.S. constitutional law influences the Japanese constitution and it did not suggest that the US constitution was free of circumvention by other laws. I merely wished to help explain that there is a difference in how rigidly the freedom of expression in the constitution is upheld in Japan compared to the U.S.. It appeared, that from the comments, there was some confusion.

Consdering how they pollute the auditory environment with their loud-speaker trucks, I only thinks it fair if we get to pollute their posters in turn.

Yamamoto approached the man and asked him politely to stop. The man simply replied "Can't you see I'm peeing, here?" and continued to empty his bladder.

Why continue to use the facsimile when you have the real article right there?

A real politician who actually cared about those he represented would have taken the opportunity to ask the man why he disliked him so. A real politician would have listened to the man's concerns and complaints, because he was elected to represent the people. A real politician would have considered this a learning opportunity. Wait! What am I saying? This Japan, and there are no REAL politicians! Having the guy arrested proves he's just another pathetic loser.

Good grief, now we have a Les Majeste law in Japan.... and not for the royal family, but for .... wait for it.... Japanese politicians??

Somebody pinch me.

Probably was arrested for urinating in public. The fact that the politician saw it makes it "public".

Were there any independent witnesses? It could be argued either way in court..., Funny story though...

I have heard that tearing off a campaign poster is considered an offense too. There are many poster that I would like to deface, rip off or sell on eBay if I could.

@ slumdog. Yes is seems that while there is a constitutional right for Freedom of Expression in Japan, it all to often circumvented by other laws. This is counter-intuitive to the U.S. application of constitutional rights. @all. This a good primer for freedom of speech in Japan. http://ir.library.osaka-u.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/11094/8543/1/oulr038-013.pdf

Arresting the man after the fact seems a bit odd, and I wonder what they can charge him with, really. Had the police themselves caught the man doing what he did they might be able to push for some kind of public indecency (flashing) charge, but seriously.

It's just a shame the man begged the politician not to tell.

So Kei Yamamoto admits he is a hypocrite.

he admits that, “had it not been my poster, I probably would have laughed, too…” on his Twitter feed. An act of free speech, not sure he can claim defacement since how is it different from dirty rain. Now if justice exists in Japan, the politician should loose.

Seriously, Hashimoto needs to re-educate the adults in Osaka and not the kids!!

More so when the guy is a CITY HALL worker. Hashi, clean up YOUR mess please!

How that is considered an arrestable offence is beyond me.

It is illegal in Japan to deface or destroy a campaign poster. (選挙の自由妨害罪」に該当し、選挙違反になります)

How do we, or the cops, know this is true?? Did they do a genetic test of the pee to prove it was his?

Too bad he didn't have the presence of mind to tell the cops he was drunk and couldn't remember doing it.

Ronald F StarkNov. 15, 2012 - 06:44PM JST A real politician who actually cared about those he represented would have taken the opportunity to ask the man why he disliked him so. A real politician would have listened to the man's concerns and complaints, because he was elected to represent the people. A real politician would have considered this a learning opportunity. Wait! What am I saying? This Japan, and there are no REAL politicians! Having the guy arrested proves he's just another pathetic loser.

Is that what real politicians in your home country do? Be honest now. This wasn't some disagreement over policy at some type of [i]meet and greet[/i] with the electorate. The pissee knew exactly what he was doing and why? This was his ideal of a political statement. He figured nobody would catch it because it was late at night and because probably nobody would care. Unfortunately for him, he literally got caught with his pants down. Like it or not, when you sign up to collect a public paycheck, you're always going to be expected to behave as an adult even when you're not on the clock.

This kind of stuff is not unique to Japan. It happens in other countries as well. Instead of p'ing on election posters, etc., they're ripping them down, or writing graffiti all over them. People really need to stop trying to turn this into another "This is why the rest of the world is so much better than Japan" issue.

Freedom of sPEEch? Not here...

There are different ways to look at it. The idea of the law is to guarantee free elections and free choice and not allow people to destroy posters and the like in order to prevent someone from getting exposure and being elected. Every country has some sort of limits on 'free speech'.