Social-media populists have arrived in Japan
A small-town mayor shakes up Tokyo’s election
Politics in Japan can be a staid affair. The race to become the governor of Tokyo, which reached its climax on July 7th, was anything but that. Fifty-six candidates, many of them eccentrics, traded barbs. Pets featured on election posters; so, in one case, did pornography. A candidate dressed as the Joker from “Batman” spouted nonsense on national television. Another took off her clothes.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Negative nonsense”
From the July 13th 2024 edition
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