Shinji Ishimaru

Shinji Ishimaru (石丸 伸二, Ishimaru Shinji; born 12 August 1982) is a Japanese politician who has served as Mayor of Akitakata from 2020 until his resignation in 2024. Ishimaru obtained national prominence as mayor in 2022 after a video of him scolding members of the city council for sleeping during a meeting went viral on social media, with the video gaining 13 million views on YouTube. Ever since then, he has gained a large internet following, especially on Twitter with his vocal political opinions and by documenting his frequent clashes with local political opponents.

Ishimaru ran in the 2024 Tokyo gubernatorial election as an independent, but ultimately lost to incumbent Yuriko Koike. However, Ishimaru secured second place with 1,658,363 votes, capturing 24.3% of the total. His surprising performance exceeded expectations, notably overshadowing Renhō, considered Yuriko Koike's primary challenger.