Japan’s cybersecurity minister has never used a computer

Japan’s cybersecurity minister has an interesting little secret, one that came to light in Parliament on Wednesday: He has never used a computer.

No, there’s no need to go read that line again. You read it right the first time. Yoshitaka Sakurada, Japan’s 68-year-old minister of cybersecurity, has confessed to having never used a computer before.

When asked to elaborate on this claim, Mr. Sakurada explained that he has always had his employees and secretaries do computer work for him. He was also confused by the concept of a USB drive. A USB drive… When asked by a lawmaker if using USB drives in nuclear power plants proved to be a security risk, Sakurada recommended that he ask an expert.

These comments were, understandably, met with horror. Opposition lawmaker Misato Imai responded by saying “It’s unbelievable that someone who has not touched computers is responsible for cybersecurity policies.”

Others, however, have been having a bit of lighthearted fun with this. “If a hacker targets this Minister Sakurada, they wouldn’t be able to steal any information,” joked one Twitter user. “Indeed it might be the strongest kind of security!”

Sakurada has only held office for little over a month, but this isn’t the first time his bizarre public comments have made headlines. He’s the overseer for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a subject he has also displayed a general air of confusion toward. When asked how much money the government would be contributing to the Olympics, he replied “1,500 yen,” around £10.

Now, I’m not much of a sports fan, but I would love nothing more than to watch the Olympics done on a £10 budget. It’s a real shame the right number should have been closer to 150 billion yen.