Abstract
The December 2014 election was a digital milestone in Japan: political parties and politicians effectively became free to campaign online for the first time in a general election. Shortly after the 2012 general election, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) quickly pushed through a much-demanded and long-anticipated revision to the Public Offices Election Law (POEL), creating specific legal provisions allowing for previously prohibited online campaigning activities. While the new law came in time for the 2013 House of Councillors (HC) election, all indication was that online campaigning had minimal electoral impact. Can the same be said in 2014? This chapter provides a brief historical background on digital campaigning, looks at how political parties attempted to take advantage of digital campaigning resources, and contemplates the future of online campaigning in Japan. We find that parties were prepared to campaign online despite the relative suddenness of the election and that online behavior reflected offline patterns.
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