Japan Minister In Charge Of Vaccines Gets Roasted For Tweeting About Malaysian Durian
"Get us vaccinated and you can have all the durians you want, Taro-chan."
By May Vin Ang — 01 Jun 2021, 03:47 PM
A Japanese minister's Tweet about Malaysian durian has drawn flak from netizens for reasons, thankfully, unrelated to the actual fruit
Japan's Administrative Affairs Minister Taro Kono shared about the exported Malaysian product on his official Twitter account on 31 May.
"Durians are coming to the Japanese market," Kono wrote, showing off a box of Musang King that displays the Malaysian flag and coat of arms.
The minister is known to be extremely fond of durian.
For most netizens, the news was welcomed and many were happy to hear about the additional availability of the 'King Of Fruits' in Japan
"Thanks for choosing Malaysian Durians, Kono-san!" said a Twitter user.
"This durian package design is cool! It should definitely smell nice," said another.
Meanwhile, a grateful Malaysian user Tweeted, "I'm a Malaysian staying in Japan. And here, [I've been] getting my durian from a Vietnamese store. Thanks for this."
However, as Kono is also the minister in charge of Japan's vaccine distribution — which has reportedly been slow — the Tweet has also drawn many sarcastic and dissatisfied replies
"Get us vaccinated and you can have all the durians you want, Taro-chan," said one user.
"So, the durians have the vaccine in them?" replied another sarcastically.
This netizen said, "I might choose a ripe durian over a vaccine. So good... Wait, you won't distract me, Taro Kono! Nice try, though."
Another encouraged the minister, "Now I can see what it's all about. I keep hearing you either love or hate them. But stay focused on getting those vaccines to the public! FOCUS."
A survey conducted by global consultancy Kekst CNC found that 75% of Japanese have been dissatisfied with their country's vaccine rollout
According to The Japan Times, the government plans to inoculate most of its 36 million people over the age of 65 by the end of July, in time for the Tokyo Olympics that is scheduled to begin on 23 July.
To reach that vaccination target, the government hopes to deliver about 1 million shots a day. However, the current pace has instead been three times slower.
Japan has only inoculated 2.9% of its population in May, the lowest rate among wealthy countries.
