Elections

The morning birdsong from last week has been replaced by polite Japanese broadcast by loadspeaker mounted on minivans.

Tokamachi is currently in the grip of election fever. The recent merger of Tokamachi-shi and surrounding villages as meant that a new Mayor must be elected for Tokamachi-Super-Shi. And with a new mayor comes a new assembly, so there are elections for that too.

So, what are Japanese Election Campaigns like? Well, from what I can see, and I see a fair amount since one of the candidates is using the restaurant next-door as a base, it involves promotion posters displayed on special noticeboards all around town. It also involves minivans equipped with loadspeakers persuading those within earshot to vote for their candidate. The minivans are also full of campaigners whose job it is to wave at anyone they see. Sometime the minivans stop and teh campaigners stand on street corners waving at cars driving by. I'm sure it's all very polite, even if it does look a little bit demented.

So how are things getting on back home? Well, I did spot this on the BBC website ' Prescott criticises roof protest'. Wish I was back home to see it!