Japan’s major political parties are proposing a new law to limit what can go up on the country’s election campaign poster boards. The move is a reaction to the rampant abuse that the boards suffered during this year’s Tokyo Gubernatorial election.
A record 56 candidates stood in the Tokyo election for governor this summer. The majority of them were from the Protect the People from the NHK Party (N-Koku). (Practically anyone can stand for Tokyo governor by laying down a 3 million yen, or $19K, deposit.) That gave the party 30 spaces on the city’s election boards – the only place candidates for Governor were permitted to place election posters.
However, instead of using the spaces for his candidates, N-Koku’s leader Tachibana Takashi sold them to the highest bidders. The boards quickly became flooded with fliers championing the legalization of drugs and, in some cases, ads for outright scams.
Tachibana even used some of the boards himself to harass Otsu Ayaka, who took control of Tachibana’s political party back when he re-christened it the Female Politicians 48 Party. (Tachibana was later charged with stalking Otsu.)
The thing is, none of this was illegal. Tachibana was working within the guidelines of the Japanese election system.
Other “candidates” for Tokyo governor also abused the election boards. Kawai Yusuke (featured in the picture above) used his posters to advocate for a variety of positions, including legalizing marijuana. Largely, however, he used the spaces to increase his own brand and notoriety.
That might change, though. In response to the fiasco, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and six other political parties banded together to craft new guidelines to prevent a repeat of The Summer of 2024.
If made law, the new regulations would outlaw using the election poster boards to:
- Slander other people or political parties; or
- Use them for for-profit purposes
Violations would carry a one million yen (USD $6,330) fine.
The content of election posters hasn’t been strictly regulated until now, as legislators didn’t want to pass any laws that might limit a candidate’s right to free speech. The LDP worked with the major opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and others to establish a framework that all parties agreed preserved speech rights while cracking down on this summer’s most egregious abuses.
Legislators hope to pass the new law around April before this summer’s Tokyo Assembly election.
Tokyo has also discussed raising the deposit required to stand for office, as the amount hasn’t changed in over 30 years.
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