| TOKYO (Reuters) - Defying
critics who called it "indecent," a Japanese
wrestler-turned-politician turned up for his first day at work on
Tuesday sporting a vividly patterned mask.
Formerly a wrestler known as "The Great Sasuke," Masanori
Murakawa won fame -- and a seat in a local assembly in northern
Japan -- wearing a similar mask.
"I have absolutely no intention of taking it off, no matter how
much opposition there is," the otherwise conservatively dressed
Murakawa told journalists before taking his place in the council
chamber in Iwate, 290 miles north of Tokyo.
He had attempted to defuse criticism by choosing a mask that
revealed more of his face than before -- and which featured the
emblem of the region picked out in gold on the side.
Not all local voters were impressed.
"Before you know it prefectural civil servants will all be
wearing masks too," one Iwate council employee grumbled. |
