Let’s pump that iron so we can put our whole body and soul into the polls!

Voting is one of the most important rights granted to citizens. Through the power of the vote, the humble citizen is granted stock in the governmental decision-making process; we may not be able to do much in politics, but we can at least firmly express our preferences and distastes with our vote and hope that enough of our peers feel the same.

Unfortunately, it’s very hard to convince people to vote. Sometimes it’s an issue of sheer motivation, other times forgetfulness (if you forget to write your local election date on your personal calendar, you’re likely to let it pass by without you). But don’t worry, people of Fukuoka City – it’s going to be very hard to forget when to hit your local polling station.

Fukuoka City is the home of unsinkable 7-Eleven stores and notorious grape thieves, but they’re also very serious about inspiring their citizens to get out there to vote. So naturally, they decided to choose the most inspiring figure of all: an unnecessarily buff man.

https://youtu.be/jqyvZdYkKFw

In the lead-up to voting week they released three videos, each starring Akihito Ohara of renowned muscle troupe All Out. In each video, Ohara exercises a different part of his magnificent body while a polite voice implies you to use said part when handing in your vote at the electoral station. We start with the hips, move on to the back, and finish with the arms.

▼ In case you were wondering, Ohara is a native of Aichi prefecture, not Fukuoka.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0oEcoLM8gg

In the final video, the narrator’s voice does implore everybody – “both muscular and not-so-muscular” – to come join in their civic duty on November 18, but after watching all those lurid shots of Ohara flexing until the sweat runs down his legs it’s hard to not immediately dash to the gym rather than the polling station.

https://youtu.be/Lh_k8EHT5_8

As muscular men seem to have very little to do with the political process, it’s likely Fukuoka City is banking on a viral social media boom caused by the sheer “WTF” factor of pairing politics with pectorals. It’ll be interesting to see what effect this has on the turnout on voting day itself… Maybe we’ll see buff guest stars from other prefectures, drawn by the call of protein? Buff men have certainly drawn crowds before, so maybe Fukuoka City is really onto something here.

Top image: YouTube/福岡市選挙管理委員会事務局
Source: Fukuoka City Voting Site via Japaaan