Kimi Onoda debunks online rumors about becoming a cosplayer

On Sunday night, Economic Security Minister Kimi Onoda updated her X account to warn against the spread of false information about her on social media. Commenting on the video that appeared on her Instagram page, she said, “There are so many false claims, even just from this video, that I could go on forever…” before correcting some of them.

Kimi Onoda says social media posts about her are false

“I never learned to be a VTuber. I couldn’t build a computer, and I never even changed a graphics card,” Onoda wrote. The last bit refers to her changing her graphics card so she can watch her favorite VTuber in HD. She added, “Again, I have absolutely zero knowledge or experience with VTubers.”

Onoda is also keen to stress that cosplay is not her passion, though she says she “did it a few times” during her student days and that the photo shown was “just a promotional photo while trying on clothes at the ‘Yumiko Igarashi Art Museum’ in Kurashiki City.” As for her being a cyclist, she said she doesn’t own a bike or a motorcycle license. The photo of her posing with a motorcycle was taken at a Self-Defense Forces event.

Onoda wrote on

Japan’s Minister of Economic and Security Kimimi Onoda (middle) and Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae (right) | Wikimedia

About Kimi Onoda

Onoda was born in Chicago to a Japanese mother and an American father, and moved to Okayama Prefecture when he was one year old. Her mother raised her on her own and her father abandoned the family without leaving any child support. While in college, she earned her high school civics teaching license but then worked for a video game company.

In 2011, she was elected as a member of the Tokyo Kita Ward Council and began her political career. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi appointed her as economic security minister when she announced her first cabinet in October. She was also assigned to promote a society of “orderly and harmonious coexistence with foreigners.” In November, Onoda said authorities would “create a situation where foreigners who do bad things will no longer exist in Japan.”

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Updated on January 19, 2026