Campaign Collection

Can a candidate with no political experience and no charisma win an election if he is backed by the political giant Prime Minister Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party? This cinema-verite documentary closely follows a heated election campaign in Kawasaki, Japan, revealing the true nature of "democracy."

In response to the Fukushima disaster, Yama-san is running an election campaign with an anti-nuclear message. But unlike last time, he has no money, no machine, no nothing. Does he even stand a chance? On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced one of the most calamitous nuclear disasters in history. But in two national elections following the accident, the pro-nuclear Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) achieved landslide victories, gaining control of the two parliaments. Why? 'Campaign 2' by Kazuhiro Soda observes a small local election right after the disaster and gives insight into this difficult question, presenting a microcosm of Japan's political-psychological landscape.