Few candidates savvy enough to take advantage of Internet campaigning

Amazing that the country that has so many people "connected" that the political candidates do not have the foresight to take advantage of the internet for their political campaigns.

It would surely be a break for my ears if they would get their butts in gear!

Why campaign on the Internet when you can have lackeys drive around the streets blaring out your name and "de gozaimasu"?

This is why Japan is no longer the technological leaders. Our computer illiterate politicians don't even understand the importance of online media.

@Mirai Hayashi

Duh. Even majority of Japanese teens don't even know how to operate PC.

Great, now if all politicians follow suit we can get rid of these loudspeaker vans. Bah not looking forward to sunday when i need my sleep :(

Japan is one of the less tech savvy nations in the world, so no real surprises here! Add to that the fact that most politicians here passed retirement age about twenty years ago...!

I make a point of keeping a record of the names of those idiots blaring their name out from cars and then vote for the candidate that didn't do that.

One of the things that's always baffled me about this nation is that they produce a whole lot of the world's leading tech, but it's almost entirely for export and a whole lot of people here don't know what they're doing when it comes to operating computers or tech, save smart phones, perhaps. Politicians are TOTALLY missing out by not taking advantage, in particular because a lot of young people don't read newspapers, don't watch the news, and probably if they're like most people get annoyed by the morons going around with loudspeakers.

The tech-savvy approach is a major departure from the old-style campaigning that has long dominated here

Could it be they dont use the net because the majority of politicians are OAPs?? Once we get rid of this ageist approach to politics things will start to change.......

All habits are hard to break in this country, especially for the older generation.

I don't think this article is dealing with tech savvyness of candidates for the avenues that are out there for any person that uses the Internet can easily use them. If not, it means facebook, twitter or blog hosts are doing a poor job.

Having said, it's a poor article simply because the the lawmakers that are vying for reelection mostly do have their own blogs and twitter accounts already and have used them quite often with relatively sizable readers and followers. The new candidates whom are mostly unknown and had previous nine to five jobs are of course different for they are just starting out setting up such things.

Few candidates savvy

Fixed.

Those in power know that if they made politics relevant and accessible to younger urban voters they would be out on their ears.

Few candidates savvy enough

Leave the head as just that

Yeah, very few people over 50 are tech savvy. Many of them can't use a mobile phone. My ex-father-in-law couldn't even use the TV remote for his new flash 50" TV. I guess this tech savvy generation gap is a worldwide phenomenon and not just in Japan. The down side of this is, a large portion of the voting public are over 50 and they are not able to follow the Internet campaigns. The other dark side is, you have idiots like Hashimoto twitting any and every thought that comes into his mind and others slandering the opposition for power points.

Whether or not he uses the Internet for campaigning, I'm rooting for Yamamoto. It's great that he's able to reach so many people using his online presence, but what inspires me about him is he's a triumph of substance over form. He actually has a platform beyond that of self advancement. He's passionate, he's articulate, and I think he's campaigning because he has a mission. I hope he gets elected, though I know the odds are very much against it.

If you see his videos of campaigning, you will see that there is a crowd around him when he speaks, and they are actually listening to what he's saying. Oh, and he doesn't wear white gloves, and clutch a bunch of microphones like they were roses. He just gets up on his soapbox with his megaphone, and what he says comes straight from his head, not from a script. We need more Yamamotos in politics in Japan!

If they are that far behind in tech and what is going on, do we really trust them to be able to do something about the economy??

This is how Obama won (well, that and the fact that his opponent was a complete moron) . He appealed to the younger people through social media (twitter, facebook, reddit), while Romney and McCain only did TV and radio. TV and radio is old school. Loud speaker buses is even MORE obsolete! Nobody listens to that crap!

see the change the guy in not in black suit

This is how Obama won No, not really. Claming Obama won because he can use the internet is rather dismissive of who he is and what he does.