THE GOVERNMENT OF MODERN JAPAN: JAPAN'S ELECTORAL LAWS No House-to-House Canvassing |
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Gerald L. Curtis :: One of the election law restrictions that one finds in very few other countries is that, in Japan, so-called house-to-house canvassing is completely prohibited. A candidate or a candidate's supporters are not allowed to go and knock on somebody's door and say, "Would you please support my candidate?" or, "Please support me!" He might, it's all right apparently to knock on one door, but if you then go to another house and knock on that door, then it's house-to-house canvassing. So, if you knock on a door and then go back home and maybe go out again, you could probably get away with it without violating the law. But that, of course, then doesn't leave you much time for the campaign. And in Japanese election campaigning for the lower house, the most powerful of the two houses of the Diet, is now restricted to no more than two weeks, so it's a very short election campaign and, in fact, most of the election campaigning takes place before the official election campaign even begins. |
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