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Japan Bans Use of Web Sites in Elections
couch_warrior writes with a BBC article about Japan's choice to restrain political speech in the 21st century. The nation of Japan bans the use of internet sites to solicit voters in its upper house elections. Based on election laws drawn up in the 50s, candidates are restricted in the ways they can reach their constituents. Candidates are even restrained from distributing leaflets that will reach more than 3% of the voters. What's more, people who are trying to change the laws are failing. Despite heavy internet usage and a strong installed base of high-speed connectivity, young people just don't feel involved in politics. "In Japan, 95% of people in their 20s surf the web, but only a third of them bother to vote. Some, though, do not seem keen on politicians using the web to try to win their support. 'I believe that internet resources are not very official,' says Kentaro Shimano, a student at Temple University in Tokyo. 'YouTube is more casual; you watch music videos or funny videos on it, but if the government or any politicians are on the web it doesn't feel right.' Haruka Konishi agrees. 'Japanese politics is something really serious,' she says. 'Young people shouldn't be involved, I guess because they're not serious enough or they don't have the education.' There cannot be many places in the world where students feel their views should not count. Perhaps it is really a reflection of the reality — that they do not."
In any democracy, all people who are affected by the laws should have a say in how those laws get made. Indeed, they have a responsibility and a duty to make their voices heard.
To paraphrase an old saw about reading, "the person who doesn't vote is no better off than the person who cannot vote!"
Hey, I just realized, I'm too stupid and uneducated as a person to post comments, please take this away from me.
Some people encrypt by using rot-13 twice. I prefer the more secure method of using rot-1 a total of twenty six times.
...between Japanese and American students. American students think they know everything and people care what they have to say. Japanese students know everything--including that nobody cares.
--josh
The article talks a little about the loud speaker vans candidates usually use to get their message out. I hate them! The volume they blast their cookie cutter pleads for endorsement are as deafening as they are annoying. My house is a little ways from the road that they drive by, and it sounds like they're right outside my window. If you're unlucky enough to be on the side of the road when they pass, you need to cover your ears to prevent damage to your hearing, all while they're smiling and waving in white gloves. The worst is when election day is coming, so you have three or four vans all trying to out do each other.
Sorry, that was a bit of a rant. But it gives you an idea about what those damned trucks are like. After reading this article, it looks like things won't get any better for a while.
'Young people shouldn't be involved, I guess because they're not serious enough or they don't have the education.'
I'm not up to date on the civics education in Japan, but I feel that in America it's sorely lacking and really explains why we have such poor turnouts for our elections. I didn't have Civics (American Government, or whatever you may have had instead) until Senior year in high school, and by then it was obvious that most of the students in my class didn't care. It seemed as though most were content to sleep or slack off during the class or agonize the teacher with idiotic questions or annoying answers.
I think if we would have had the class at a much younger age and a teacher who promoted the importance of voting and participating in government, more students would have been interested in their government and the political process, perhaps to the point that they would research candidates on their own and make informed political decisions or have intelligent political discussion beyond "Bush is a Nazi!"
Looking back on my education as a child, I really wished that there would have been more classes like this at a younger age or just more schooling in general. I look at the other countries where children receive more schooling than here in America and wonder why this isn't something that we as a country aren't attempting to emulate.
Im not sure what the implications of this are in Japan, if it ensures all parties get the same air time Id say its good.
If used by the ruling parties to stifle others, ofcourse not so good.
A totally open system will only favour the party with most money/biggest corporate backers.
Where I live political ads on tv are illegal, and I think most agree its for the best. Anyone wanting to sling mud on another candidate has to do so face to face in a debate, and be ready to back it up or be called on it.
We don't let children vote. What a horrifying thought! Mickey Mouse would be telling kids to support billion-year copyright extensions.
We do let people vote at age 18. An 18-year-old is unlikely to have been supporting himself for long, to have effective memories of both recessions and booms, to have a decent understanding of world politics, and so on. Most 18 year olds are still strongly influenced by the various fads and peer pressures of youth, typically as encouraged by the usual large corporations. (the pop star says we should vote for...)
So really, low turnout of inexperienced people is not bad. We don't need any more people voting for the guy with the attractive haircut.
As a voter (not in Japan, but in another country), I found the easiest methof to find out who I was voting for is the Internet - a quick way to determine the platform of each political candidate. Some of the candidates don't have a website, but a quick search on other information didn't pull up anything - which usually indicates a minor candidate.
In my opinion, restricting the use of websites would make research more difficult - if everyone was serious about voting (which isn't the case) where they would contact or do quick research on each candidate, it would bog down the campaign offices with questions (especially if a statement gets made that may need clarification.)
I'm for keeping the campaign serious, but it shouldn't lock down the methods used to contact the candidates (unless such methods are disruptive - another story.)
The title makes more sense when you remember that the Japanese mix up their l's and r's.
As long as the aforementioned hypothetical 18-year-old can't be asked by his/her country to serve, and die in its service, I guess I'm fine with that. As far as this much-older-than-18-year-old is concerned, though -- if you're old enough to be a soldier, a sailor, a member of the police force, or a firefighter, then you should be old enough to vote.
Japanese youth are strange! When the youuth of rest of the world want to have more voice in the political process they don't think they are mature... wtf? And anything that prevents politicians to reach that core group is bound to have lasting consequences to the nation.
How about 45? Most people are pretty serious by then. Humor and lightheartedness have no place in government, or in this post :-) Maybe they shouldn't let the candidates campaign. Just post their voting record and the people can discuss amongst themselves. The more I think about it, the more I like it. It would cut way down on false promises and other deceptions.
What?
Living in Japan, I have various issues with the Japenese political system. Not being Japanese, I don't think it's my job to make any changes, though.
It's definetely impacted by the seniority system that permeates the country. If you're old, you have a say, if you're young, you do what you're told. Obviously this is not a hard rule, but there definetely is such a trend. The standard view is that such a system would encouage some serious corruption (having a real and powerful organizations of organized crime does not help, they assasinated a difficult major during the last election).
I can't say I understand the Japanese democratic systems. I'm sure it protects the status quo, will probably change, though will change very slowly as the next 2 generations grow up. The system works somehow, and people still have to option to change things if they get completely out of hand.
I lost my sig.
I recently saw a documentary called "Election Day" about a Japanese man running for office. While noting that Japanese documentaries stylistically are very different than modern American documentaries: what happens, boring or not is what you see; it's still incredibly interesting.
There seem to be no television ads, no yard signs with slogans, no big campaign rallies. Instead there's the use of existing events: politicians visiting school exhibitions, attending morning exercise programs for the elderly, and so on.
There's also a lot of the politician himself walking around town, introducing himself to people on the street, and standing around with a bullhorn at various popular locations ( ex. the train station ) apologising for the intrusion and explaining his views on things to anyone who will listen ( no one ever seems to stop and listen for very long ).
In what seems to be the culmination of the campaign there's even a bizarre bus tour around the small town while he and his wife shout things over a pa and wave politely from the bus.
In contrast with American politics -- it's strange to say the least.
All in all though it was refreshing to see a politician taking cat naps in his ultra tiny car and pounding the pavement all by himself to connect with everyday people and to drum up votes.
Luckily, the problem is self solving. Japan has the oldest (and therefore the most dying) population of any civilized nation. In a few generations, either the Country will be gone, or over run with care-taker robots. In either case, hawking political hogwash via the net will be the least of their worries.
It's not that Japan "just banned" the use of web sites; it's that the law as written doesn't allow it, and hasn't been changed (in relevant part) since the web came about. Or rather, it's that the law is believed not to allow web sites; a few candidates that tried it got a warning that it "might" break the law, and none of them were willing to actually take it to the courts. (Interestingly enough, in this election the political parties have started posting their non-candidate members' speeches, arguing that they're allowed as descriptions of party activities rather than restricted candidate activities. We'll have to see how that holds up.)
Incidentally, a similar problem with videos of campaign speeches was discussed here in April.
I guess I'm OK with the ban. I couldn't read all those funny Japanese characters, anyway.
I've been in Japan at election time. There's a distinct lack of information to go off:
* You'll find each neighborhood plastered with election posters from 30 or so candidates. These show the candidate grinning or looking stern, their name and a 'Vote for Tanaka'.
* Election Vans drive around the neighborhood saying 'I am Tanaka. I am Tanaka. Please Vote for me. I am Tanaka. I am Tanaka. Please Vote for me. I am Tanaka. I am Tanaka. Please Vote for me.' These annoy the crap out of everyone.
* That's all folks! Try making your choice off of that!
* Websites would have given a place for some intelligent debate, because you get nothing from the above. If you watch NHK's News Hour you will get some reasonably intelligent analysis, but for local issues you have to rely on the local stations and they do next to no politics. If your household watches the variety show or the kids want to watch anime channels instead, you'll get no information at all.
* There's only one real party: The LDP. Sure, there are fringe parties, but apart from one glitch (quickly) corrected the LDP have always held power. (Don't get too cocky: In the US the Republicans and Democrats are pretty similar. Last Election both Pro-War and Pro-Big Business.)
* Most Japanese don't talk politics. They've realized it doesn't make a difference. They try and carve out a living and hope the politicians leave them alone (Again don't get cocky. The hours you spend sitting around shooting the breeze with your buddies might feel good, but ultimately makes no difference either.)
* There's a big disaster looming in Japan because the pension system has been paying out more than is coming in. This has been known for 20 years, but no one has had the guts to do anything about it. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plan to Save Japan? He's going to make sure children know how to use chopsticks. Other than that, he's done nothing. How did Abe get elected? He didn't. The LDP appointed him. His Grandpa was an important politician and now it's "his turn".
Unlike in the United States.
You know, these things are not 'serious' or 'educated' enough to invade our holy elections, we cannot let it to get into the voters attention... they could listen to it. What's worse is that we have absolutely no control over it, some guy in his basement could make a video and submit it to youtube, at least with the other ways (the expensive ways) there's more control regarding who is able to spread political speech...
Once the politicians begin to "protect" the citizens from certain kind of speeches or media...
Copyright infringement is "piracy" in the same way DRM is "consumer rape"
The Internet is a cheap and egalitarian medium. Without knowledge of Japanese politics, it is hard judge the effect. There is something useful about retail politics, so maybe politicians should be walking the streets. I don't know, for example, if there is an equivalent of Fox News acting as a division of a major Japanese party. The 3% leaflet rule seems like it might be hard to monitor. As far as young people not having good judgment, that depends on whether they agree with me.
Where to start? I was in the military and I think you pulled that first stat right out of your posterior; I certainly didn't see many airmen coming from a wealthier background than the average, nor did more than a handful of them have anything past a HS education. Your "read-between-the-lines" reference to African-Americans in this country is so blatantly racist that I can't believe at least 1 person modded you up for it. And by the way, the other thing I noticed about 18-22-year-old-airmen in the AF was how many of them took on two massive car payments that ate up most of their paychecks because they didn't have to worry about housing. Then they'd take on massive credit card debt on top of that, to the point where the AF had (and probably still has) programs instructing these kids on how to be financially responsible, teaching them even during basic training. It didn't seem to do much good, however; many of them still engaged in that type of behavior that did not seem to indicate they were well-educated or had familiarity with money in any way.
I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
I'm 37 soon, and now I finally have it all figured out. When I was 27, I hadn't figured out ANYthing, and worse yet, I THOUGHT I had grown a brain in the last few years, just like others my age. I know there's probably plenty of people reading this aged 27 who'll hate this simple fact. Your [sic] too young to have learned how to spell "you're" or to have much of a world view.
I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
this is manjusha's comment.
On the bright side, if you choose to remain ignorant the anime is pretty good. :-) http://animesuki.com/
Unfortunately a "higher education" might not do much good when you have a population that is largely apathetic to political participation, and by this I mean truly researching the candidates and issues instead of looking at how whatever political party they identify themselves as belonging to would vote on the issue.
I don't know how the rest of the country operates, but I just don't think that having a single civics class in the senior year of high school is enough to motivate the young adults to be politically active. Some, like myself, were postively affected by the class and have become more political as a result, but for the most part there were too many other students who left that class the same as they went in to it.
Unless you want to take classes in college you're really not forced to do so. There may be requirements to take a certain number of science courses or a certain amount of math regardless of what your major is, I can't think of any universities that require a civics course. If they do require one, good for them as I feel it's vastly more important than learning a little bit of chemistry and is certainly more applicable to the lives of the majority of the students who go through that university.
I honestly believe that the best solution is to start civics courses in school much earlier on, hopefully fostering a love for the political process instead of disdain. Hopefully students would have a greater interest in participating in politics as well as a better understanding of how to be a good citizen. I think that America would largely be a better country if more people were politically active and thinking for themselves.
I'm glad that there are people out there who have spent the time to become well acquinted with civics and history, but I fear that there are no longer enough people who take the time to become knowledgable in such fields. The vast amount of anti-intellectualism in this country is frightening and taking steps to reduce such traits in future generations would hopefully be a great benefit to not only our country, but also to the rest of the world as well.
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Wh47 d1d j00 541, 31337 15n't t3h r0xor5 ne m0r3???
Japan is a great place to live. We have Akihabara, Maid Cafe's, all the Manga your heart could desire, Sushi, and cute girls. However, there is also an blind political system with deep corruption. Take it for what it's worth.
okinawa japan
"In Japan, 95% of people in their 20s surf the web, but only a third of them bother to vote."
Here in the United States, we get all the fliers and websites and spam and junk mail and road signs and everything else you could want, and we still get a similar result.
It doesn't matter how you "reach out to the voters" if the voters still don't like you.
You're pretty unaware of the state of humanity, probably because all YOUR classmates were going to college and could afford it.
The vast majority of people in the USA have never been to college, barely finished high school, and can't afford college.
There's nothing wrong with offering these people an opportunity. They have the right to refuse, though that might be a foolish decision.
Loud, obnoxious Japanese election van.
Turn your volume all the way up to get an sense of how it is to be there.
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
My 13-year-old daughter is spending part of the summer attending middle school in my wife's home town. She was so looking forward to this as she likes Japan itself and was excited about the different school experience.
Now each time we talk on the phone she keeps telling me horror stories about the complete lack of discipline, direction and interest in learning in the classrooms. She feels she's back in kindergarten. She's witnessed ijime (bullying) that has gone unpunished. There's one guy in her class that repeatedly pulls other students pants (plus underwear) down in the middle of class and grabs female student's breasts. (Luckily for him he hasn't tried this with my daughter) Nothing is done. Were this North America the student would have been expelled or in counseling years ago. The school's token gaijin English instructor is an Australian who is just there to pronounce out the words taught by the Japanese English teacher. His pronunciation is, of course, with a strong Australian accent which (no offense to Aussies out there), will make them difficult to understand for other English speakers. As the parent pointed out, it doesn't matter anyway as none of these students can connect more than one or two English words together to hold an even basic conversation.
Japan has some of the world's best technology and some extremely creative people. But the use of technology to help the society as a whole politically and socially is held back by the culture of "it's not our place to change things".
If you don't want to repeat the past, stop living in it.
Namely, when millions of people elect somebody whom they never met personally.
More logical democratic system is when someone elect community leader, those leaders elect township leader, township leaders elect county leader, county leaders elect state leader and state leaders elect the president of usa.
I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
I've been in Japan for over 15 years. First, if you don't understand the language, you don't understand the culture. To the English teacher: your students probably have no interest in telling you all they know about everything. Getting into the typical argumentative/philosophical offered up by most low-time foreigners here is tedious since it always ends up being a pompous monologue on "This is how we do it in America, and you should too" nonsense. Unless you've been here at least 10 years and speak and read the language, you're languishing in the dark and still full of the preconceptions you got off the plane with. Knock it off, STFU and leave. Eighty percent are in Japan teaching English because they are social misfits who couldn't fit in with their own culture. After a few years they develop the "gaijin anger complex." They don't really know what the hell is going on around them and are angry at being trapped since they can't function in their own culture or Japan.
Instead of discussing the topic, they can only rant about how stupid everyone around them appears to them.
I find the Japanese election system a refreshing dose of honesty. Not the politicians - they suck everywhere - but the simple elegance of simply doing what most people in western countries won't admit to. They vote for whomever has the face or personality doesn't make them want to vomit.
The election "season" is short, weeks instead of years, and that is a blessing. Who really cares what a politician says he or she are going to do on website, a debate or a commercial... they never do what they promise anyway. When is the last time a politician did what the said they were going to do? They rely on your goldfish-like memory to get elected and re-elected. (Oh look! A bridge! I'll swim under it. Oh look! A bridge! I'll swim under it. Oh look! A broken Social Security system. I'll fix it. Oh look! Iraq. We're making progress)
To the next goldfish, I mean person, who thinks the Japanese have it wrong, all I can say is look at who the American public, in the self-proclaimed model democracy of America, elected in the last two elections. And you think the Japanese system is strange? Uh huh.
If by "important politician" you mean Class A war criminal, you are absolutely right.
It would be akin to having the grandson of high ranking Nazi official as chancellor of Germany... Yes, Japan is that much depoliticized.
While extreme, I like some aspects of this policy. First, material on the internet is generally more informal than 'real-world' information, and by restricting candidates to brick-and-mortar campaigning has the potential to prevent the sort of ridiculously overblown campaigning we see in the US by keeping candidates more accountable for what they say. Secondly, this policy may actually help political expression. By keeping candidates off of the internet, citizens are allowed to shape the discussion, thus creating an inter-citizen dialogue instead of having one candidate preach at large groups of others. Just some thoughts.
Wasn't critizing the US Electoral College. Rather was pointing out it's not that different from a Parliamentary Democracy: In both cases you elect a proxy and the leader is elected through the proxy. The previous poster said Abe wasn't elected by Japanese Voters because Japan is a Parliamentary Democracy. I said if you claim that, you should equally claim Americans don't elect their President either. Just gluing back together a split hair :-)
The fossils in parent post are not japanese people. OLD POLITICIANS.
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