Tokyo - A video clip of a weeping Japanese politician accused of dubious spending has gone viral, leaving many outraged and puzzled.
The video shows Ryutaro Nonomura, 47, a Hyogo Prefectural assemblyman, bursting into tears, uttering nonsensical phrases and banging on the desk.
One site for the video drew nearly 640 000 views, as of Thursday.
His news conference on Wednesday followed a Kobe Shimbun newspaper report this week that raised questions about Nonomura's visiting the hot springs 106 times in 2013, using public money.
Such visits were not illegal and had been reported to the assembly office, but totalled ¥3m ($300 000).
Calls are rising for Nonomura to give an explanation.
Hyogo legislators get ¥500 000 ($5 000) a month for expenses, including travel.
Here's one of the multiple copies of the video on YouTube:
The video shows Ryutaro Nonomura, 47, a Hyogo Prefectural assemblyman, bursting into tears, uttering nonsensical phrases and banging on the desk.
One site for the video drew nearly 640 000 views, as of Thursday.
His news conference on Wednesday followed a Kobe Shimbun newspaper report this week that raised questions about Nonomura's visiting the hot springs 106 times in 2013, using public money.
Such visits were not illegal and had been reported to the assembly office, but totalled ¥3m ($300 000).
Calls are rising for Nonomura to give an explanation.
Hyogo legislators get ¥500 000 ($5 000) a month for expenses, including travel.
Here's one of the multiple copies of the video on YouTube: