4 ms·

Interesting how in some contexts kickback is illegal fraud/corruption, while here the government of a developed democratic country openly engages it. https://e

• resoluteteeth 8y ago
  It's also interesting in the context of how strict Japan's rules for election campaigns are. For example, a few years ago Justice Minister Midori Matsushima got in trouble for distributing essentially worthless paper fans since they were considered gifts, whereas paper pamphlets would have been okay, and she had to resign as minister. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-2799975/Japans-justice-minister-undone-cheap-paper-fan.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-2799975/Japans-...
  • kbrosnan 8y ago
    It is about reach, a leaflet would reach one person. That person might talk to a person or two about the information in the leaflet. One person with a fan could be seen by many thousands of people on their daily commute.
    • resoluteteeth 8y ago
      That might be a reasonable basis for a rule in theory, but it's not the issue in this case under Japanese election law. Something that has any value and counts as a gift and therefore isn't allowed, even if the value is extremely small. There are other various other rules about campaign activity though (where/when it can be performed).