Musings of a Drunken Monk: Individual Entry Archive

The 選挙 (senkyo: election, vote) has begun. In Japan that means one thing: A solid week of armies of vans and trucks driving around, blaring little speeches out of oversized PA speakers.

It's an interesting (and unsurprisingly, loud) time, because every town it seems is blanketed by these roving shouting advertisements from precisely 8AM to 8PM. They vie for your vote by driving around and waving at anyone who will take notice, with a chorus of "thank you" and Japanese that has no literal translation.

What I find interesting is that no one seems to care that very few of the politicians running for office actually state what their platform is. I have yet to hear one (though admittedly my echoey-PA-listening skills are subpar), and when I inquired my coworkers agreed that it's rather rare. So how do people decide who to vote for?

Probably just like back home: appearance. And that's what the signboards are for! In a designated area in each section of town (towns are broken into distinct sections) has been erected a massive board with space for each candidate's picture. I couldn't imagine that anyone would actually pay attention to these things, but while playing wiffleball next to one yesterday I witnessed dozens of people looking closely. But what for? None of the pictures have anything but a catchy slogan and name written on them.

A Japanese mystery indeed.