TOKYO – Japan has been left reeling following news Prime Minster Yoshihiko Noda has quit after an embarrassing run of consecutive defeats in Street Fighter 4.
Mr Noda’s efforts in the popular arcade fighting game were widely accepted as shambolic and immediately lead to calls from opposition leaders to resign.
Calling his performance “a disgrace”, the head of Japan’s Democratic Party apologised several times and stepped down from his position after only 36 days as Prime Minister.
His opponent, local teenager Kazaki Sato, also criticised the Prime Minister’s over reliance on basic punch and kick moves in a session that saw Mr Noda suffer the humiliation of four perfect rounds.
Unacceptable
The 54-year-old described the moment he was hit with Ryu’s Ultra Combo Metsu Shoryuken for the fifth time as the “worse of my political career.”
Opposition Liberal Democratic Party spokesman Yuriko Koike condemned Japan’s leader for “bringing dishonour to his station by sticking with M.Bison for so long.”
He continued: “He could not pull off a single combo. It was how America say, ah ‘ass-whooping’.”
Although not in attendance, the Emperor of Japan agreed the Prime Minister’s showing at the Shibuya arcade and Pachinko parlour was “unacceptable for a man of such high office.”
“I have heard the reports. He was all over the place and has shamed us all,” criticised Emperor Akihito, who said he now regretted his appointment of the Prime Minster.
The scandal is considered the biggest embarrassment surrounding a Prime Minster since 1989 when Sosuke Uno suffered ten straight defeats in Punch Out!!
Prehaps unsurprisingly, Mr Noda admitted he was unsure how to do a Dragon Punch when quizzed after his defeat – an admission that has left many to question how he made it to one of Japan’s highest ranking positions in the first place.
‘A child could have done better’
Although troubled by the loss of another leader in government after such a short time, citizens were left with no choice but to agree after learning of the dismal streak.
“Government is no place for those with no skill in Street Fighter,” said Internal Affairs Minister Tatsuo Kawabata. “If this was Dead or Alive we could forgive him, but no. No, he had to go.”
In a bid for political continuity, the Democratic Party announced it would immediately hold a Street Fighter 4 tournament to decide Mr Noda’s replacement.
Emperor Akihito declared it to be “the only way we will avoid making this tragic mistake again.”
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