Watch Japan’s New Education Minister Wrestle Ric Flair

Surprisingly, Hiroshi Hase is not the first professional wrestler to become a high-ranking official in Japan's government.

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA - SEPTEMBER 05:  Hiroshi Hase talks to the media during a Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee press conference ahead of the 125th IOC Session at Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel and Conveention Centre on September 5, 2013 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA - SEPTEMBER 05: Hiroshi Hase talks to the media during a Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee press conference ahead of the 125th IOC Session at Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel and Conveention Centre on September 5, 2013 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA - SEPTEMBER 05: Hiroshi Hase talks to the media during a Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee press conference ahead of the 125th IOC Session at Sheraton Buenos Aires Hotel and Conveention Centre on September 5, 2013 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Of all the media coverage that followed the appointment of Hiroshi Hase to the position of Japan’s education minister in early October, the most ecstatic probably came this week from World Wrestling Entertainment. “Of course, there may be some mystery as to why this appointment is significant in the sports-entertainment realm,” the article said. “The answer is simple: Hiroshi Hase had an accomplished and decorated professional wrestling career.”

Of all the media coverage that followed the appointment of Hiroshi Hase to the position of Japan’s education minister in early October, the most ecstatic probably came this week from World Wrestling Entertainment. “Of course, there may be some mystery as to why this appointment is significant in the sports-entertainment realm,” the article said. “The answer is simple: Hiroshi Hase had an accomplished and decorated professional wrestling career.”

Hase wrestled in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He’s better known, however, for his bouts with men like Owen Hart and Rick Rude, the latter of which Hase won in a victory that “solidified his place as one of Japan’s top competitors of all time,” according to WWE.

This video speaks for itself.

https://twitter.com/KennySwanston/status/656217114353774593/photo/1

Surprisingly, Hase is not the first professional wrestler to get elected to Japan’s parliament, where he served from 2007 until his appointment as education minister. That honor goes to the far more colorful Antonio Inoki, a wrestler and mixed martial artist who fought Muhammad Ali to a draw, negotiated about Japanese hostages with Saddam Hussein, and has visited North Korea dozens of times.

Photo Credit: Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images Sport

Isaac Stone Fish is a journalist and senior fellow at the Asia Society’s Center on U.S-China Relations. He was formerly the Asia editor at Foreign Policy Magazine. Twitter: @isaacstonefish

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