They are the only campaign faces many of Japan's 100 million voters are most likely to see and hear in the strictly regulated 12-day period before the general election. But they rarely offer much more than repeats of the candidate's name. More serious slogans are frowned on, and debate on key issues is almost nonexistent. And, in perhaps the sharpest contrast to elections in the West, being a campaign cheerleader is just another day job. What in the US would usually be done by enlisting a few aspiring politicians from the local Young Republicans or College Democrats, in Japan is usually filled by women who otherwise work as actresses, hostesses, and corporate promoters.
Business is business.
Writ large, the line between business and politics in Japan has long been blurry. At the top of the hierarchy, says political scientist Kuniko Inoguchi, are politicians far removed from average people's problems. Japan has yet to see a George Bush embarrassed by the fact that he hasn't seen a supermarket scanner. Not that anyone likes it. They're noisy and they're not telling you anything.