Cosplayer Who Became The Youngest Parliament Member In Taiwan

Prolific cosplayer Souichi has won herself a place as legislator of the 12th district in New Taipei City. The 28-year-old, whose real name is Lai Pin-yu, is from the Democratic Progressive Party (DDP) and is also a well-known activist. She is an advocate for traffic improvement, medical care, and sustainable tourism.

Lai has been an activist since 2013 and joined the Sunflower movement in 2014, a political group of youngsters who are against a trade agreement with China. She also often posts pictures of her in anime costumes and bikinis. Her comments on those pictures are: “I don’t need to change the way I dress. The most important thing is how I serve my people.”

She added, “I hope to face voters. Sincerely, to let them know that politicians aren’t different from everybody. Outside of our focus on politics, our daily lives are the same as everyone else.

“I might be your daughter, your granddaughter, I might be your neighbor, the only thing different about me is that I specialize in politics or law, that I know how to make a budget or conduct a Q&A session.”