Japanese politician reacts to Forza Horizon 5 livery of himself

Written by. Ryuki Ishii based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2022-01-18 17:33 JST)

Microsoft’s open-world racing game Forza Horizon 5 is gaining attention in Japan in an unexpected way. Taro Kono, the Director of the Liberal Democratic Party Public Relations Headquarters, posted a tweet on January 18, reacting to a player-made livery that uses an image of Kono.

Looking at the screenshot (the first screenshot in the tweet), you can clearly see Kono’s face painted on the back of the Mercedes-Benz Unimog U5023, along with a sticker that says, “now on recording,” which is a common phrase written on vehicle stickers sold in Japan that are used to prevent tailgating. A unique combination of imagery.

It seems like Kono couldn’t help but react to the image. We’re not sure what kind of emotion he’s conveying through that short comment, but since Kono is known for posting humorous tweets from time to time, it could be taken as a sign of acceptance.

By the way, the other picture painted on the side of the car seems to be of Hiroyuki Nishimura, the founder of 2channel and the admin of 4chan. This is an interesting pairing since Kono and Nishimura have had a discussion in the past, and Nishimura praised Kono’s competency as the Minister for Administrative Reform and Regulatory Reform at the time.

What’s worth noting is that there’s no mention of how well made the livery is in the replies to Kono’s tweets. Some users seem to think it’s a picture of a real car. Even among those who recognize it as an in-game image, many may think the livery was made by just copy-pasting Kono’s Twitter profile image into the game. That explains why no one is amazed by the livery’s quality. However, Forza Horizon 5 doesn’t have such a feature.

In Forza Horizon 5, players can create their own vinyl and customize the appearance of their cars. This doesn’t mean you can paint freely, though. You have to combine pre-made shapes to come up with designs. There are a variety of shapes available to use, and by utilizing the layering function, you can create a wide range of designs. For example, recreating the logo of an actual car manufacturer is one of the most popular usages of the vinyl creator tool.

Many Japanese players showcase their craftsmanship by creating meticulous recreation of anime and game characters. Some even reproduce real-life celebrities using this feature. The most common method seems to be to trace a photo on a PC screen by making it transparent. There are also unofficial tools that semi-automate the shape generation process, but in any case, Kono and Nishimura’s vinyl were created by pasting a myriad of shapes together.

Forza Horizon 5 is available on PC (via Steam & Microsoft Store), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, along with Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.