JC Helary
When image is all that matters
Asahi Evening News
By JUN SAITO
June 10, 2000
Lower House candidate Takeshi Nishioka's campaign strategy is simple: Shake the hands of 80,000 voters.
``I would like as many voters as possible to feel congenial to me. A handshake is the first step to generate such feelings,'' said the 64-year-old veteran politician of the opposition Liberal Party.
Nishioka's policies and ways to advocate them have taken a backseat in his campaign team's strategy for the Nagasaki No.1 single-seat electorate.
This is because his campaigners believe that frequent exposure to voters is the only way to win a Lower House seat on June 25.
``Our candidate has already visited all the shopping districts in the constituency,'' said Nagasaki City Assembly member Tadashi Kume, the leader of Nishioka's election campaign. ``He shook hands with so many people that he suffered tenosynovitis in mid-May,'' Kume said.
On April 29, when the voting day was almost decided, Nishioka's campaign staff confirmed that their strategy would be dobuita, a frequently used term describing an election campaign that gives priority to face-to-face contact with voters rather than advocating policies from the podium.
In May, Nishioka set a personal goal to shake hands with 80,000 voters, or at least 1,400 different hands a day. His team believes that 80,000 votes will be enough to win the single-seat constituency against three other candidates.
Nishioka often uses a small vehicle with two campaigners to visit the homes of his supporters. When the vehicle arrives at a shopping street, he jumps off and offers his hand to pedestrians.
He has appeared at various events and citizens' meetings in Nagasaki. He diligently visits such gatherings almost every day-sometimes four times a night.
``Maybe he has already finished shaking hands with more than 30,000 voters. We will continue this campaign style,'' Kume said.
The direct meaning of dobuita is a board cover for a ditch. According to political scholars, there are several explanations about how dobuita started to be used for election campaigns.
The most prevalent view is that the term became a metaphor for a situation in which candidates made the rounds for votes and even watched the ditch in front of their supporters' houses. If politicians discovered a ditch clogged with trash, they would even clean it up.
This type of campaign is often criticized because politicians only seek to be on good terms with voters, while their visions related to national politics are non-existent.
Some dobuita politicians believe that helping their communities through big public work projects is the only way to maintain a cozy relationship with voters-and to keep their jobs in Nagatacho. Potential wastes in taxpayers' money is not a factor for them.
Some even take the trouble finding work for key supporters.
``In reality, people will not have a positive image of our candidate if he only mentions his policies,'' said a secretary of a Liberal Democratic Party candidate in a Tokyo electoral district, on condition of anonymity. ``In fact, the image of being a good person and familiarity are the keys to succeed in the election.''
Nishioka's election campaign had once been completely different.
His father, Takejiro, was a Lower House lawmaker and also governor of Nagasaki Prefecture. His mother, Haru, was an Upper House member.
Nishioka was solid enough as a politician to win a Diet election with the inherited supporters of his parents.
He first became a Lower House member in 1963 when he was 27. Since then, he has been elected 11 times.
He was once education minister and held several senior posts in the ruling LDP.
As a big-name politician in Nagasaki, he did not have to worry about winning elections. In fact, he often visited other electoral districts to help his LDP colleagues.
But Nishioka's situation dramatically changed. He left the LDP in 1994 to join Ichiro Ozawa's Shinshinto (New Frontier Party), which was split into several small parties in January 1998.
Since then, Nishioka has been a member of Ozawa's Liberal Party. In February 1998, he suddenly quit the Lower House to run in the Nagasaki gubernatorial election, saying he wanted to reform local politics. But failed to be elected.
During his party-hopping days, many supporters left Nishioka.
``So we have to return to the basics of the election campaign,'' said Kume.
An 88-year-old former official of the Nagasaki prefectural government has been a longtime supporter of Nishioka since his father was still a Lower House member.
``I think Nishioka had the firm belief that he could reform conservative politics in the nation by changing parties,'' the supporter said, on condition of anonymity.
``In my impression, his stance was not welcomed by the voters. He lost many supporters and is now cornered. It is ironic for him that he cannot help but flatter voters by taking the dobuita strategy,'' he said.
There is another danger in dobuita campaigns and the cozy relationship with voters. Politicians have even violated election laws to maintain close ties with local communities.
In December last year, then Lower House member Itsunori Onodera from Miyagi Prefecture and his secretaries were arrested for distributing incense sticks to more than 500 households in his constituency. Onodera, a member of the LDP, resigned his Diet seat in January after being indicted to the summary court on charges of violating the Public Offices Election Law.
He confessed to prosecutors that his supporters always welcomed him with confectionery and drinks when he visited their homes. He said he distributed the incense sticks as a return gift for their hospitality.
``The closer our relationship with supporters became, the more we wanted to do for them,'' he said.
Kaoru Okano, former professor of political science at Meiji University, said dobuita campaigns reflect a lack of policy-based debates in the Japanese political world.
``People like the representative from their community. So even if Prime Minister Mori made inappropriate remarks at the national level, voters will not abandon their LDP candidate in their community.''
Okano also said political parties lack policy platforms that voters could use in their decisions on election day.
Compared with the United States and Britain, Japanese parties, except the Japanese Communist Party, have failed to differentiate their platforms, he said.
``Under the circumstances, voters tend to choose a candidate who has a good image rather than a good policy,'' Okano said.