Japanese Election Status normal - weird

[Steve Bildermann]

Celebs hope to turn fame into votes

Celebrities trying to turn fame into votes are a staple of Japanese elections and next month's poll is no exception, with a lineup including a female pro wrestler, an ex-swimsuit model and Japan's own "Bob Dylan".

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20040625/od_uk_nm/oukoe_japan_election_celebrities

Meet your candidate

[Taro Toporific]

Celebs hope to turn fame into votes
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20040625/od_uk_nm/oukoe_japan_election_celebrities

Well, the weirdos are more interesting than the Borg of the LDP.....


JAPAN:
Koizumi's Iraq Policy Comes Under Test in Elections
TOKYO, June 25 (IPS) - Mariko Ishibashi, 26, a company receptionist, has already decided she will not cast her ballot next month in an election that could crucially determine Japan's deployment of troops to join a multinational force in Iraq....
''What's the point in voting when politicians do nothing to change Japan?'' asks Ishibashi.
But the company receptionist is not alone...

''The voter turnout plays a key role to the results in the elections,'' says Prof. Jun Lio, a political analyst at the National Graduate Policy Institute.
''A low percentage of people voting is definitely going to be advantageous to the ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party,'' he tells IPS.

[Taro Toporific]

Koizumi's Iraq Policy Comes Under Test in Elections
TOKYO, June 25 (IPS) -
...''The voter turnout plays a key role to the results in the elections,'' says Prof. Jun Lio, a political analyst at the National Graduate Policy Institute.
''A low percentage of people voting is definitely going to be advantageous to the ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party,'' he tells IPS.

On the other hand, the Iraq cluster-fucky may make a dent ...

More Japanese Voters May Support Opposition Party, Kyodo Says
June 27 (Bloomberg) -- More Japanese voters intend to choose the opposition Democratic Party of Japan over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party under the proportional representation system in the July 11 upper house election, Kyodo News said. ... A total of 121 seats are up for grabs in the upcoming election, of which 48 will be assigned to winning candidates who are now on parties' proportional representation lists. The remaining 73 will be picked directly by voters in single constituencies.
The Kyodo survey showed 21.4 percent of respondents picked the LDP for the single constituency system, compared with 20.9 percent who expressed preference for the DPJ.

[Taro Toporific]

Oh my Buddha, here's a gaijin so fuckqued that she defends Japanese sound trucks on Sunday morning at EIGHT F*UCKING AM!

An inside look at election campaigning in Japan
Asahi Shimbun, Japan - June 28
By JANE SINGER, Special to The Asahi Shimbun.
Another Japanese election is upon us, so cover your ears, here they come again. No, I'm not talking about the unceasing parade of sound trucks, but the inevitable complaints by foreign residents about these ``drive-by aural assaults.'' I've heard grousing about the squeaky-voiced female announcers; the sash-and-white-glove-wearing candidates, who look like they've strayed from a beauty pageant; and the candidates' frantically waving retinue. Yet as the wife of a prefectural assemblyman who has prevailed in three elections so far, I can attest that there are indeed practical considerations behind the carnival ambience of a Japanese election....