During a campaign broadcast on NHK, Airi Uchino, the young entrepreneur, removed a striped, button-down shirt to reveal her cleavage in a cream-colored tube top. “I’m not just cute,” she purred, inviting prospective voters to connect with her on Line, Japan’s popular messaging app. “I’m sexy, right?”
Ms. Uchino is backed by the Party to Protect the People from NHK, a renegade group that is supporting close to half of those running for governor. The group has permitted its candidates and some others to post campaign posters featuring photos of cats or cartoon animals on the official election signboards.
Some candidates have used airtime to advance general opinions, such as opposing welfare benefits for foreign workers in Japan or transgender rights.
The sheer volume of candidates can muffle serious opposition. With all paid advertising banned, said Jeffrey J. Hall, a lecturer in politics at Kanda University of International Studies, “mainstream candidates can’t amplify their messages to the point where they drown out the voices of the minor candidates.”
