Live streaming instead of legislating: Japan’s YouTuber MP Yoshikazu Higashitani fired for not showing up at work

Before his short-lived career as a lawmaker, Higashitani, 51, was well-known for his lengthy livestreams during which he dished out salacious celebrity gossip under the alias “GaaSyy.” He ran for parliament from Dubai, claiming that he could not return to Japan because the police were investigating him for fraud. While in self-imposed exile, he campaigned and promised to expose dozens of celebrity scandals.