Content area
Full Text
A number of Japanese celebrities were recruited to run as candidates in the Upper House elections, with -- as it turns out -- mixed results.
Among the winners were an Olympic bronze medalist, a former wrestler, a stage actress and a newscaster. One well-known former pro wrestler, however, was ousted.
Former J.League Gamba Osaka manager Kunishige Kamamoto, who was backed by the Liberal-Democratic Party, won a seat in the July 23 House of Councilors election.
Kamamoto, 51, was listed 11th on the LDP's proportional representation list. As a star player on the national soccer team, Kamamoto scored seven goals to help Japan win a bronze medal in the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games.
Professional wrestler Hiroshi Hase won a seat as an independent candidate in the Ishikawa prefectural constituency.
Hase, 34, who wrestled in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, won by appealing for political reform.
Supported by...