Japan’s
political candidates hang out
with voters on
Google
Yesterday, the heads of
Japan’s eight most popular
political parties held eight consecutive
Google Hangouts to engage
with citizens across the country ahead of Sunday’s general election—arguably the largest (and longest) ****** of Hangouts
with politicians ever! Each of the leaders held a Hangout, including incumbent Prime Minister Yoshihiko **da from the Democratic Party Japan and Shinzo Abe from the Liberal Democratic Party.
Voters asked questions that reflected the most pressing issues on the Japanese people’s minds: the ailing eco**my, social security and the future of energy programs. For instance, one 21-year old student asked a politician about welfare and eco**mic self-reliance, in response to which the politician explained his vision to create more opportunities for young people.
After an**uncing these Hangouts on **vember 29, we invited citizens to upload their questions on to
Google using the hashtag # (“talk to politicians”). Ten participants representing a cross-section of
voters across Japanese society—including a college student from Tokyo, a housewife from Mie prefecture, and a businessman from Shizuoka prefecture—were chosen to join the Hangouts. People who tuned in said that it gave them a chance to witness an in-depth conversation between politicians and
voters up close, which is rare in
Japan’s incredibly short and intense campaign season of 12 days.
These Hangouts are part of Google
Japan’s effort to help
voters get information about the
candidates before they head to the polls on December 16. To help
voters get access to information about more than 1,000
candidates and 12
political parties, we launched our Japan elections site, called Erabou 2012 (“Choose 2012”), at
google.co.jp/senkyo. This site serves as a hub for all latest elections-related information, pulling together candidate profiles and party platforms. If you missed the Hangouts live, you can also watch the recordings there and on the
Japan Politics YouTube Channel.
Posted by Mak Arima, Country Managing Director, Google Japan
