The Japanese minister for cyber security was accused of making a mockery of his new role after he admitted he has never used a computer.

Yoshitaka Sakurada, 68, faced a wall of laughter from fellow legislators when he made the admission in a car-crash response to questioning in parliament.

Mr Sakurada, from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is in charge of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and deputy chief of the government’s cyber security strategy office.

Clearly uneasy when quizzed about about technical matters during a televised debate, the MP admitted: “Since the age of 25, I have instructed my employees and secretaries, so I don’t use the computers myself."

Mr Sakurada also appeared confused by the concept of a USB drive. When asked about Japanese nuclear facilities and malicious software, Sakurada said USBs were “basically never used” in the utility systems.