Sobbing politician resigns; faces charges for misuse of funds

Nonomura visited the hot springs 106 times last year

That's 2 visits a week, all year long! He must be one cleeeeeeean dude after hitting the onsen that often. As for sobbing and shouting nonsensical phrases in reaction to being asked about dubious expenditures, that's par for the course whenever I'm called in to explain an expense report...

He should have never had the opportunity to resign. He should have been sacked and slapped in irons as soon as his embezzlement was discovered. His pathetic little tear ceremony was his attempt to gain sympathy and it only gained ridicule.

He did provide pretty good entertainment for a while. Just the thumbnail of this video makes me crack up LOL

But he didn't go to the onsen, no one there had seen him, it was impossible to make the journey on some of the days he claimed. He just sat down and made it all up.

Finally getting rid of the bum. Throw the book at him.

Yeah, I read that no one at the onsen recalls seeing him, so where did he go and what did he squander the cash on? Girly bars? Massages? I really don't care as long as he is charged with embezzlement, has to pay the money back and axed from politics for ever.

This gave me a chance to teach my friend the meaning of 'go viral', but I still can't watch but a few seconds of the video out of sheer embarrassment. Good riddance to this guy, and I hope he gets charged for the waste -- a waste which went 100% against what got him elected in the first place, given his platform was to eliminate unnecessary spending.

Nonomura, 47, a Hyogo prefectural assemblyman, burst into tears and screamed nonsensical phrases when he was asked at a news conference last week

Childish behavior from a Japanese politician -- WOW, who woulda thunk it?

He will end up on TV shows as a Celebrity?

So this guy claims he spent almost 30,000¥ each time he went to an onsen? The kind of services or facilities does this place have? It's very likely that there were criminal acts committed here. In any event, he'll get a suspended sentence. POS.

As of now, he is going to have a lot to cry about !!!!!

Must have been the hot springs that got him in hot water.

Lighten up folks, he wanted to change society. Population aging isn't our prefecture's ahhhhhh haahaaaaaa problem. It's life or death. Cut him some slack.

Didn't this happen like a week or more ago…?

Nonomura had reported the hot springs and other trips, racking up some 3 million yen in annual travel expenses, but he had not produced any receipts, according to the assembly office.

And pray tell why did assembly office reimburse his expenses without having any receipts? I work in a Japanese company and for business trips it is mandatory to supply receipts.

The assembly office is screwy to be paying out tax-yen without any justification or receipts.

I thought he was going to stick it out.

I hope he gets treated firmly, but with compassion. If ever there was a suicide waiting to happen, this is it....

He will end up on TV shows as a Celebrity?

It's Japan, you can't rule out that possibility.

Almost all Japanese politician and big companies executives do the same under entertainment budget.

I work with a few people from Nishinomiya City, and they are both livid with rage, and excruciatingly embarrassed. "I want my money back!" is a common refrain.

I love the guy...

He's been the best thing on TV in a long time.

Couldn't the local assembly somehow keep him on?

For example, they could make a unique new yuru-kyara with a tendency to break down crying at any moment. It could be a good symbol for Hyogo Prefecture.

Nonomura could be the guy inside the costume...

Most politicians just want to be big shots. They inherit their position from Daddy and only want a good life. They don't care about the people. Except maybe in their little farm district.

"Nonomura visited the hot springs 106 times last year"

I'm jealous. I love soaking in hot spring baths, but I only get to do it maybe 4 or 5 times a year.

The assembly is asking Hyogo police to look into possible charges of submitting false public documents against Nonomura, Kyodo News reported.

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So it is now in police hand. It is a easy case for DA. He can not go to onsen now.

The sad/ironic thing about this is, that if he had not put on such a ridiculous show for the press conference, this would probably never have been brought to light. At least not to the level it has been. His awful tantrum has given him an awful lot of attention, which is WHY he is resigning and WHY he is facing charges.

It makes me wonder how many more politicians (with better PR guys) there are in Japan, receiving nothing more than a very little slap on the wrist from their bosses.

"sobbing" was the best adjective for this headline? not: bewailing, blubbering, wailing, or crocodile tears?

One can tell that the crying was totally faked. His voice had no sound of crying and he was holding his eyes closed tightly to get them to tear steadily.

Try it and see for your self.

Japan is way to lenient on their governmental people, however, then again the only ones who do not seem to be lax on the penalties are countries like Russia.

Lock him up, but pull him out, every now and then, to cry about jail on T.V.. At least that would be entertaining. Actually, very entertaining. I still laugh when I think about this fool's public display of...well...I'm not sure what you'd call that...but it was funny as Hell.

Jesus, I ask that he be treated "with compassion”and I get two thumbs-down. What kind of world are we living in?

he should not only payback the expense but also his salary cause he obviously wasn't doing what he is paid to do.

and what's worse is DIET POLITICIAN have even LESS oversight over their expenses, who knows what they've been claiming as "expenses"....

With hi crap acting he will appear on the next soap opera TV program.

The guy was not right from the beginning and even if he was just riding on his father's name to get elected, I can't understand how he got elected. Has anyone seen the video of his first speech at the assembly. He introduces himself in the same overly dramatic manner, says he's 44, unmarried. First goal as assemblyman is konkatsu (finding a marriage partner). And he's not even joking. He's well beyond being simply KY. He's on the autism spectrum. Clearly not the typical super smooth, snake in the grass politician.

Yubaru asks: "And pray tell why did assembly office reimburse his expenses without having any receipts?"

That is something I'd like to know as well. Tessa, have you heard from your friends if anyone's under investigation for that?

He's still unmarried. I wonder if he was using that money for his konkatsu. He needs a refund.

His little charade conveniently took focus away from the real news that month though, namely the heckling of Ayaka Shiomura. There have been two cases of embezzlement of larger sums just since then, one significantly more sinister, but they're way down on the list of popular news.