Just in case: No, ‘hip hop geek’ Troy did not run or win a seat in Japan’s general election

After Japan’s general election on Feb. 8, a post on X circulated widely, claiming that a Black candidate from the ruling Liberal Democrat Party won a seat in Kyoto’s first district.

The purported candidate named トロイ, or Troy in English, was described as a “ヒップホップ オタク (hip-hop geek)” in the supposed screenshot image showing an election results table that indicated Troy received 78,098 votes, enough to secure victory.

The same doctored image spread across other platforms in multiple languages including Threads, where one user wrote in Chinese, “This guy was probably just messing around! Who knew he’d actually get elected?” On Reddit, one user commented, “Japan has fallen.”

The original X post with the manipulated image by the user Troy was a tongue-in-cheek entry, but it is hard to make out if those users’ reactions are serious or sarcastic in nature.

While many comments clearly knew the image was fake, a few others seem to have taken the joke at its face value. Some netizens linked the image to debates over immigration, suggesting, “Even Japan’s political arena now features foreign faces. This must be part of Japan’s immigration policy shift.”

Annie Lab investigated the claim and found that the screenshot was a doctored version of the election results tracker on Nikkei news website (archived here).

The real winner in Kyoto’s first district was Yasushi Katsume, a former environment minister from the Liberal Democratic Party. The vote total, 78,098, matches the number in the viral image while the name and photograph were clearly replaced with those of Troy.

The official results posted by the Kyoto government also confirms Katsume was the winner (pdf here).

A comparison between the doctored image and Nikkei’s website shows Troy’s portrait photo as well as his name and biographical title were used to replace Katsume’s identity.

The fabricated version is also missing Troy’s age, which should be displayed next to the name as seen in other candidates’ names.

[Update on Feb. 15] The real winner, Katsume, also “congratulated” Troy’s victory on X, and Troy replied in kind. The playful exchange shows the original post was intended as a joke and widely taken that way.