'We have to be wacky.' With suggestive poses and pets, election campaigning tests Tokyo's patience

Tokyo elects a new governor this weekend, but residents say personal publicity stunts have overtaken serious campaigning to a degree never seen before. There are nearly nude women in suggestive poses, pets, an AI character and a man practicing his golf swing. It’s impossible to ignore. With internet campaigning still relatively new, candidates traditionally use designated election billboards — more than 14,000 of them — to promote themselves. The limited-time billboards are valuable exposure in a city crammed with advertising, and non-candidates are also renting space. This year’s wackiness is proving exceptional, and residents have flooded election offices with complaints.