The upper house of Japan's parliament has decided to expel a producer of videos about celebrity scandals for the YouTube platform, who was elected to parliament in 2022, for missing every session, it was announced today and quoted by Lusa.

The disciplinary committee of the House of Councillors unanimously confirmed the decision on Tuesday. This is the first time an MP has been expelled from the Japanese parliament (Diet) since 1951, according to the Japanese press.

Earlier this month, the Diet ordered 51-year-old Yoshikazu Higashitani, known on social media under the pseudonym "GaaSyy", to apologize to the assembly.

But Higashitani, one of the two MPs elected by the small Seijika Joshi 48 party, did not respond to this order.

Expulsion is the most severe punishment an MP can receive in Japan and this is the third time it has been imposed since the adoption of the current Constitution in 1947.

The two previous expulsions were Tomozo Ogawa in 1950 and Kanichi Kawakami in 1951, during Japan's post-war period.

After the election in July, Higashitani remained in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, where he was already living, saying he didn't dare return to Japan for fear of being arrested.

Japanese police are investigating Higashitani on suspicion of bullying and defaming celebrities in the videos he posts online, according to the local press.

Higashitani will be replaced by another member of the Seijika Joshi party, which has changed its name several times since its creation in 2013. The party was initially formed to oppose the license fee for Japanese public television NHK.