Japanese YouTuber MP expelled from Parliament for absenteeism

Yoshikazu Higashitani, a YouTuber-turned-lawmaker, has been expelled from Japan's upper house for continuous absence from parliamentary sessions since being elected last year. He received almost 300,000 votes in his campaign for the Diet, Japan's parliament, as a member of a single-issue party that advocates reforms to NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster. He had been living in the United Arab Emirates even before the election and has not returned to Japan since, citing concerns he might be detained by police investigating defamation complaints stemming from the celebrity gossip that propelled him to YouTube stardom.