Nuclear Spokesman Sacked After Tabloid Discovers His Mistress
Hidehiko Nishiyama has been removed from his position as spokesman for Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
According to the tabloid reports, Nishiyama was carrying on an affair with a young female coworker. She supposedly looks like comedian Kanako Yanagihara. Instead of meeting at a hotel, they would regularly rent out the VIP room at a karaoke place.
Shortly after the story broke, Nishiyama denied that any sexual relationship was taking place and insisted that his personal life was not getting in the way of his work. However, his bosses have decided that Nishiyama needed to be replaced:
Last week, he tried to ease the scandal by apologising for “the fact that [the] story got reported in the media”.
“I am sorry if this gave any misperceptions or concerns that I have been laying down on the job,” he said.
The new spokesman, Yoshinori Moriyama, said yesterday his predecessor was removed because “we were concerned about the possible interference in the reporting business to be caused by a series of media reports”.
Prior to this scandal, Nishiyama’s alleged baldness had been a hot topic among netiziens. Somebody found an old photo that supposedly showed a pre-wig Nishiyama, prompting other netizens to make lots of jokes about his lack of hair. Here are a few photoshops that have been floating around the net:
And, let us not forget the Super Mario version of one of Nishiyama’s presentations:
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