Yoshitaka Sakurada is Japan's top cybersecurity official, but he knows very little about computers. Twitter thinks he's just a genius.

Yoshitaka Sakurada/Facebook

Japan’s cybersecurity chief doesn’t use computers—which at least means he’s never been hacked?

Ah, another government at its most competent.

Photo of Ana Valens 

Ana Valens

Tech

Posted on Nov 15, 2018   Updated on May 21, 2021, 1:35 am CDT

Japan’s head of cybersecurity just admitted a surprising secret: He’s never used a computer in his life.

Japanese politician Yoshitaka Sakurada serves as deputy chief of Japan’s cybersecurity strategy office. As minister for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, Sakurada also leads the government’s efforts to protect the Olympics from hacking attempts and other technological vulnerabilities. Yet his role as deputy chief seems more administrative than anything else—as he told a fellow lawmaker in the Japanese House of Representatives, he simply doesn’t use computers. That’s his staff’s job.

“Since I was 25 years old and independent, I have instructed my staff and secretaries,” Sakurada told another politician on the House floor, according to Kyodo News. “I have never used a computer in my life.”

Sakurada went on to stress that cybersecurity is “a matter that should be dealt with by the government as a whole,” and that he’s “confident that I am not at fault.” That said, Sakurada had issues identifying whether USB drives were used in Japan’s nuclear power plants, leading to further concerns that Japan’s head of cybersecurity lacks the basic knowledge necessary to protect Japan during the upcoming Olympics.

Twitter users have another perspective on the matter. Perhaps Sakurada’s Luddite ways are the perfect cybersecurity measure. If you never use a computer, you can’t get hacked, right?

https://twitter.com/tyler_flach/status/1063062103618187264

Sakurada seems to not have any first-hand experience for the job he was given, which is classic government bureaucracy for you. Twitter appreciates the Kafka-esque nonsense.

https://twitter.com/LeYawnJames/status/1063078860051296262

https://twitter.com/Goli8821/status/1063064541741760513

https://twitter.com/saywhatsophie/status/1063074362398519296

Not that the U.S. federal government is any stranger to incompetency. HUD Sec. Ben Carson and his wife Candy Carson reportedly chose a $31,000 dining set for the department’s office, and Education Department Sec. Betsy DeVos knows very little about basic sexual assault statistics. A few Twitter users think Japan is taking a page from the Trump administration and putting politicians in charge of tasks they’ll surely botch.

https://twitter.com/DavidGreatLakes/status/1063063629405265925

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At this rate, the Japanese government may just elect Donald Trump as prime minister in 2021. At least he could teach Sakurada a thing or two about Twitter.

H/T the Guardian

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*First Published: Nov 15, 2018, 10:45 am CST

Ana Valens

Ana Valens is a reporter specializing in online queer communities, marginalized identities, and adult content creation. She is a former Daily Dot staff writer. Her work has appeared at Vice, Vox, Truthout, Bitch Media, Kill Screen, Rolling Stone, and the Toast. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and spends her free time developing queer adult games.

Ana Valens