Sota Kume was a Japanese LDP politician who represented Kanagawa's 2nd district in the House of Representatives in 2019. He served as the leader of the Yokohama chapter of Bleach Japan, a grassroots anti-corruption movement that targeted prostitutes, immigrants, and organized crime, before being elected to the National Diet as Tokyo governor Ryo Aoki's protege. However, he was expelled from the Diet and imprisoned after he murdered Aoki once the latter's yakuza affiliation became public knowledge.
Biography[]
Kume leading a protest
Sota Kume was born in Yokohama, Japan. As a young, impressionable man, he was recruited into the Bleach Japan grassroots campaign and staunchly believed in the eradication of all of Japan's "gray zones," especially brothels. He rose to be the leader of Bleach Japan's Yokohama branch by 2019, and former Bleach Japan leader and Tokyo governor Ryo Aoki manipulated Kume and his throng of activists into helping him seize political power through having them wade into a gang war instigated by Bleach Japan director Hajime Ogasawara.
Kume and his mob of demonstrators frequently protested in Isezakicho, where they made the acquaintance of the ex-yakuza Ichiban Kasuga after Kasuga took offense to Kume's proclamation that all children of prostitutes should be ashamed of their mothers. Kume and Kasuga crossed paths several times as Bleach Japan harassed Hamako Karasawa's Shichifuku restaurant and Isao Nonomiya's Otohime Land soapland. After Nonomiya was murdered by the Yokohama Liumang and his death appeared to be a suicide, Kume took credit for the soapland's closure. Kasuga, angered at Kume's celebration of Nonomiya's death, engaged Kume and a group of armed Bleach Japan supporters in a fight and bested them, rallying the local business community against Kume and his organization.
Kume and Bleach Japan later made an unexpected ally in Kasuga's friend Yu Nanba, who - out of anger at the Geomijul mafia for kidnapping his brother - informed Bleach Japan of the Geomijul's money counterfeiting operation. Ogasawara brought in Omi Alliance reinforcements to march on the Geomijul's territory, but Kume and his Omi-supplied thugs were beaten down by Kasuga and his friends as they attempted to prevent Reiji Ishioda from battering down the gates guarding Koreatown. Kume was surprised to learn from Kasuga that his rough-looking Kansai muscle men were yakuza from the Omi Alliance, but he initially did not object to their heavy-handed measures and their criminality.
Kume giving a campaign speech
After Ogasawara's mysterious death, which was blamed on the Geomijul, Aoki forced LDP chair Yutaka Ogikubo to step down lest he reveal Ogikubo's involvement in the counterfeiting syndicate. As LDP chair, he ensured that Kume was selected as the LDP's candidate for Ogikubo's old seat at the 2019 snap election. Kasuga entered the race to compete against Kume, and Kasuga won a long debate against Kume. However, Kume ultimately won the election due to Ogasawara's death leading to a groundswell in public support for Bleach Japan.
Kume's political heyday soon came to an end when Yeonsu Kim leaked a video showing Aoki confessing his true identity, yakuza criminal Masato Arakawa. Feeling betrayed, Kume suffered a psychotic breakdown, tracked Aoki down to the Kabukicho coin lockers in Tokyo, and stabbed the governor dead before turning himself in to the police. In 2023, he received a long prison sentence for his crimes.
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