If you are familiar with names like Hideyoshi Hashiba, Mac Akasaka, Dr. NakaMats, Jesus Matayoshi, GaaSyy and AI Mayor you’re probably a Japan elections geek.
Japan has a track record of attracting unconventional candidates who aren’t necessarily keen on being elected, but instead hope to get their own messages — often unrelated to traditional politics — out to the public through campaigning.
But Sunday’s election was notably missing those oddball candidates — colorful characters that are hard to miss on NHK’s official election broadcast, election board posters and official election broadsheets that are delivered to every household.
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