Raw Japan

Japan’s election allergy on the Internet

Tech-savvy Japan is home to many high-tech companies and more than 70 percent of its people use the Internet. But politics on the Web falls far behind.

Both politicians and voters can be found online. Lawmakers have their own blogs and channels on sites such as niconico and youtube, and political parties such as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and main opposition Democratic Party of Japan have websites.  A couple of politicians are even tweeting on ”Twitter“.

But now that the election looks set to be called for late August, Japanese politics will fall off the ‘Net, rather than ramping up in volume like it does in other countries.

Japan’s 59-year-old election law bans campaigns using visual images that can reach large numbers of readers during an election campaign. While written in the age of posters and pamphlets, the law has been interpreted as preventing Internet advertising.

Welcome to Raw Japan

Welcome to Raw Japan, one of two new Reuters blogs focusing on Japan. This one is in English. The other is in Japanese and published on www.reuters.co.jp. They join other Reuters blogs that can be found at http://blogs.reuters.com/us/.

These new blogs reflect a determination to promote intelligent discussion of Japan. Most of the entries will come from Reuters journalists who depend on their ability to delve behind the scenes and produce balanced news reports about a country that is an economic powerhouse, a key strategic player, home to some of the world’s best known brands and a cultural trend-setter. The site will also be a flexible forum for the examination of issues that make Japan unique – from its politics and economy to society, culture, entertainment and history.