- Billyken Kid was elected to Kawanishi Municipal Assembly while wearing his wrestling mask
- The council approved mask-wearing after verifying his identity by a majority vote
- Billyken said the mask helps him focus and plans to prove himself through his work
A Japanese professional wrestler elected to his local city council has been permitted to wear his signature mask during official meetings. 52-year-old Billyken Kid was elected for the first time to the Kawanishi Municipal Assembly in Hyogo Prefecture in October, whilst campaigning throughout the polls in his now-popular mask.
The city council held a special meeting of parliamentary representatives last Friday (Nov 6) and, by a majority vote, approved mask-wearing. Billyken has been permitted to enter the chamber, provided he verified his identity with the authorities, according to a report in The Mainichi.
Explaining that the mask helped him feel more focused and concentrate on the job, Billyken said there was some resistance among the council regarding his unusual request, but he hoped to earn his stripes through his work.
"My dream has come true. There are opposing views, but I hope to earn recognition through my actions as a council member going forward," said Billyken.
Billyken, a member of the Osaka-based professional wrestling promotion Osaka Pro Wrestling, however, made it clear that he would not be rigid with his mask-wearing identity. The council member said he would remove the mask when attending ceremonies such as memorial services.
For activities that would require him to perform administrative inspections, he would take the call on wearing the mask, based on the wishes of the host organisation.
Though there are no provisions regarding a government official wearing a mask, four of the assembly's five parliamentary groups supported Billyken's bid to wear his signature dress code that made him popular in wrestling as well as among the voters.
The group that opposed his mask mandate comprised Liberal Democratic Party assembly members and others, who argued that Billyken needed to present himself 'consistently' as a public official.
"As a public official, he needs to present himself consistently, but there is a lack of clarity on this point, and we cannot support the request under the current circumstances," they said.
Billyken is not the first politician to wear a professional wrestling mask. Masanori Murakawa, better known as "the Great Sasuke," wore the vinyl masks after being elected to the prefectural assembly in 2003.
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