She may well have only come second this year but she still has her die-hard fans.
Exiled former AKB48 idol Rino Sashihara finished runner-up in the AKB48 General Election last weekend but this was in spite of the best efforts of a farmer, who voted for her 4,600 times.
A strawberry farmer apparently with money to burn was personally responsible for over 3% of Sashihara’s winning 150,570 votes last year.
He claimed he would get at least 4,600 votes for her this year, despite having a wife and two children of his own. Regardless, it didn’t help as Mayu Watanabe beat Sashiko to the podium.
The nicknamed “Sashitame” (“for Sashihara”) has become something of a legend among fans — and the tabloids.
He claims to be spending “¥8 million or ¥9 million” (around $8-9,000) a year on Sashihara! Does he not know that she doesn’t see any of the money?! It just goes into the deep pockets of Akimoto et al.
He is also said to have purchased 869 tickets for hand-shaking events, allotting him a total of 40 minutes with the notorious man-eater.
His wife has wised up to his ruinous ways and is now in control of the household expenditure, giving him just ¥30,000 (around $300) a month to spend on his “hobby”.
