Japanese Politics

It is political season in Japan! And no one really knows what to do about it...

Well except for these guys. These guys seem to have it down...
Both contenders running for the position of Tokyos governor. Which would you pick?

Japan is a very politically strange country(if you can't tell from the videos), where no one really knows what to do or what they want, but everyone knows they are not happy. I say this because, let us look at the facts, they have had 9 prime ministers in the last 8 years, and the current one is also stepping down.
 Additionally upon appearing on television and I asked who it was, the person I was with could not tell me. In other words Japanese people do not know, care about, recognize, nor really the least bit familiar with their prime minister, quite unlike Americans and our president. I personally could not tell you what the prime minister looked like, other than toad-like, or even his name; though I suppose I could tell you all about that vulture Hashimoto. Sadly, I suppose his is the face of real politics happening in Japan, as he seems to be the only one making waves.
In Japan, people do not directly vote for their prime minister. They vote for their city or prefectural representative, this might possibly be a mayor, and they will vote for them. I am still a bit spotty on how this works though. I know that the current prime minister is stepping down because his party is no longer the majority party in Japan, and that the majority party's leader will soon step up. Though technically, prime ministers are supposed to have a 2 year sentence I think? Though they just voluntarily step down? Maybe because their honor and dignity is at stake if they are over thrown? There are too many questions and I just don't fully understand. Nor do I really want or care to. Politics has never been my thing. Personally I think the vice principal at my school could do a better job running a country (he does such a fantastic job of running the school). Honestly I think that if the people could just vote for their own prime minister directly, a lot of this political instability might be able to be avoided. You picked your bed, now lay in it type of attitude.

Well that isn't what I really wanted to talk about when I brought up politics. I really wanted to talk about they way they go about doing it. Well all except for Hashimoto. That vulture does things his own way.

Rather I wanted to tell you how differently they do politics here. They don't go and lecture at your universities, they don't hold debates, they don't appear on the T.V. news channels with the latest updates. They do drive around in cars with speakers and their message blaring all across the streets. Though that really isn't efficient when you think about it. People are also driving and they might not even catch a sentence of what your campaign is about. The amount of people who hear it versus the effort that you put into it, just isn't equal. I mean occasionally they will drive through places with heavy pedestrian traffic and many people can hear their message and they might get stopped at a traffic light and that would really maximize their viewer ratio. But in my opinion, it is a really archaic method and it seems pretty half-assed. I am not going to vote for someone who is yelling at me from their car. And when you have to go and rent the car, pre-recorded a speech and then pay for the gas to just drive around all day, only for people to be mildly annoyed that you are ruining their peace, just not worth it. If I wanted to listen to you rant and yell at me, I would attend whatever function you held and sponsored that I approved of. I am just trying to get my Christmas shopping done and go home, so go away! And no, I don't want you do come and drive down my extremely residential area at 9 in the morning for a little friendly get-the-eff-outta-bed-and-listen-to-my-rant, but thank you for that.
Another of their favorite methods, which I don't mind in the slightest, but I also don't find very effective, is their speeches to the train commuters early in the morning or late in the evening. They like to pick busy stations where they will maximize their commuter and potential voter likelihood and will come in force with their volunteers, and their tissues and megaphones. They too will yell at you and tell you of all the trouble they will relieve you from and what problems there are now. They and their volunteers and families will hand out flyers and tissues and tell you good morning. These types of people are not near so bad, but I am probably biased because of the free tissues. Hey! It is cold and flu season! They are a very important commodity....don't judge me...
And then finally, as a final campaign tactic, only used by the more influential and richer candidates, will you actually see a T.V. campaign. And you will not see these anywhere near as often as you do in America. I might see one in several hours of T.V. watching. And so far I have only seen a grand total of 2. Whereas I am exceedingly grateful for this relief from the quite abrasive Japan politics, I also can see where it can hurt Japanese society in the long run. I know I pretty much discovered about politics through television and news channels. I had no real idea before that. But those annoying guys that come on and interrupt you programming and make your favorite television shows reschedule so they can have their little debate and people will see it, THAT is how you learn about politics. When you want to watch T.V. and you show isn't on, and because we are creatures of habit, we sit and watch anyways and then knowledge happens. But here, people don't really care about their politicians, they aren't really strong advocates for one or another, college kids don't get in little rows with one another over debating it, people don't unfriend each other from Facebook. They just don't care. I don't think that they could even name all the candidates running. Maybe not even half. But I can't fault them for it. Their politicians don't really seems to care enough, why should they? Prime minister has a 2 year sentence and yet he just rolls over after one so that someone else can take his place? It is like the country just has superficial government that doesn't really accomplish anything, but they have to have one, so they do.
I suppose I am just amazed that what pretty much shapes my country is a complete amorphous amoeba to another.

Oh and speaking of the candidates, here is a topics for another time, but a good many of them are representatives of cults! Ok, they are not things like the Jim Jones cult or anything. I mean technically speaking a cult can also be religion. Which is pretty much what I am talking about. They are not religions like the ones we all know, but rather named stuff like The Chemistry of the Heart (yup, no lie. I have seen that cult before). They have their own beliefs and values and politics apparently, and frequently put forth their candidates into the ranks of megaphone wielding politicians in front of the stations. There is even one guy who calls himself Jesus Christ. I'm not kidding.
Oh and another one is an extreme right wing party that wants to expel any and all foreigners. They want Japan only to have Japanese nationals...Not to mention the amount for foreigners is exceedingly small already. But those guys are extremely insane.
Guess my point is Japan is full of crazies and they are all involved in politics.

Here is what the right wingers look like if you ever get curious.