Ryutaro Nonomura's Crying Apology
About
Ryutaro Nonomura's Crying Apology refers to a press conference held by the Japanese assemblyman from Hyogo Prefecture to apologize to the public after coming under allegations of misusing government funds for personal travel in July 2014. During the address, Nonomura, overwhelmed with emotions, began wailing uncontrollably, and the footage instantly went viral after it was uploaded to YouTube.
Origin
On July 1st, 2014, Japanese politician Ryutaro Nonomura held a press conference to apologize for his suspected misuse of 3 million yen (roughly $30,000 USD). However, during the address, the 47-year-old provincial politician started to break down in tears while trying to defend his actions and began wailing uncontrollably. That same day, a video clip depicting his outburst was uploaded by YouTuber Vivipandanzon (shown, below), garnering over 800,000 views within its first 24 hours. By July 3rd, the video had received more than 3 million views.
Spread
In the following days, the wailing of Ryutaro Nonomura inspired a slew of photoshopped images, as well as MAD videos mocking Nonomura's forced crying across the web, most notably via Twitter[1] and Nico Nico Douga (NND).[2] The story was also quickly covered by both Japanese and English-language news sites overseas, most notably Kotaku[3], NewsAsia[4], The Japan Times[5], The Independent[6] and The Guardian[7].
Notable Examples
Left: Dubstep Mix | Right: "I Will Always Love You"
Left: BGM from Kirby's Block Ball | Right: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Parody
Photoshopped Parodies
Search Interest
[Not Available]
External References
Editor’s Note: Registration is needed to browse the original videos listed in this section.
[2] niconico Douga – Search results for the tag 野々村竜太郎
[3] Kotaku – Japanese Politician Freaks Out, Spawns Internet Memes / 07-02-2014
[4] NewsAsia – Crying middle-aged lawmaker enthrals Japan / 07-02-2014
[5] The Japan Times (via Wayback Machine) – Video of Japanese lawmaker crying and pounding fists goes viral / 07-02-2014
[6] The Independent – Video of Japanese politician crying hysterically at press conference goes viral / 07-02-2014
[7] theguardian.com – Footage of Japanese politician crying at press conference becomes internet hit / 07-02-2014
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