The politician made a snap judgement to continue watching the video.

Crocodiles have recently experienced a boom in popularity, thanks to the Crocodile Who Dies in 100 Days Instagram comic series. The series was so popular that at one point there was even a pop-up cafe dedicated to the reptilian protagonist. Sadly, much like the crocodile in the story, the cafe too met its end, but after just three days of business.

While there is definitely a crocodile shaped hole in many of our hearts since the series ended, most of us have learned to move on and continue with our lives. The same perhaps can not be said for Takuya Hirai, a member of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party. During a House of Representatives Cabinet Committee meeting on May 13, Mr. Hirai was photographed watching a video of a crocodile on his tablet. Unsurprisingly, the video was not at all related to the meeting’s topic, which was about the retirement age for prosecutors.

▼  Mr. Hirai was pictured watching a crocodile video in a parliamentary meeting.

When questioned by the press, Mr. Hirai claimed he had only been watching the video for “about one or two seconds”, but it has been reported that he was actually watching the video for about five minutes. The incident is reported to have happened just nine minutes after the meeting had begun, while two other politicians were in the middle of a question and answer session. “The video just appeared and started playing while I was listening [to the other politicians],” Mr. Hirai commented.

Considering the sheer range of websites available to people when they think no one else is watching, we’re just glad that Mr. Hirai wasn’t watching something much worse.

▼  Japanese Twitter was quick to jump on the meme wagon.

https://twitter.com/nochi0516_otoge/status/1260556147842412547
Japanese netizens were amused by Mr. Hirai’s viewing habits.

“If he were watching a cat video, I’d forgive him.”
“This is how our taxes are being used…”
“I’m just glad he wasn’t watching porn!”
“The Politician Who Dies in 100 Days.”
“A crocodile video is not just something that ‘appears’.”
“I actually thought this was kind of cute! Especially when he said ‘the video just appeared’!”
“His excuse is junior high student level of lame.”
“The fact that he can’t concentrate for even nine minutes… is he an elementary school student?!”

Tablets were only recently permitted to be used in Japanese parliament after the Digital Procedural Bill was passed in April 2019. Coincidentally, Mr. Hirai was the first politician to start using tablets during the meetings. After his embarrassing crocodile blunder, he may be reconsidering leaving his tablet at home.

However, he is not the first person to be busted doing something non-work related whilst on the clock, nor do we doubt he’ll be the last. Perhaps Mr. Hirai should consider working from home from now on, to avoid embarrassing fiascos like this. And hey, if Mr. Hirai needs any advice, SoraNews24’s very own Mr. Sato has a few tips and tricks for him!

Source: Livedoor News via Golden News
Image: Pakutaso
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