Koichi Toyama
| Koichi Toyama | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Native name | 外山 恒一 |
| Born |
July 26, 1970 Kirishima, Kagoshima, Japan |
| Alma mater | University of Tokyo |
| Occupation | Political activist |
Koichi Toyama (外山 恒一 Toyama Kōichi?, born July 26, 1970) is a Japanese street musician and a fringe political activist who was a candidate for the governor of Tokyo in 2007. He was born in Kagoshima Prefecture and lives in Fukuoka. He gained notoriety with his provocative 2007 Tokyo gubernatorial election speech, which was posted on YouTube. Out of fourteen candidates in the election, Toyama placed eighth with 15,059 votes (0.27 percent of total votes cast). Video footage of Koichi's 2007 speech was also used by British musician M.I.A. to open her Kala Tour concerts.
While his background was an intense revolt against the formal high-school education system, he has been described as having a left-wing history, labelled a nihilist, an anarchist.
In 2001-2002 he served two prison sentences for defamation. According to some sources, he was until then a far-left activist but turned to a self-designed national anarchism, describing himself as a fascist.
Koichi has written several books on his high school defamation, student activism and avantgarde music. Since 2007 he has educated political activists in Fukuoka in literature, history of philosophy and music. He has also run for the Kumamoto city assembly.
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