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Japanese politician’s election plan: Put a gigantic, adorable cat on his campaign poster

Casey Baseel Jul 14, 2016
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Cute like a kitty, and also maybe crazy like a fox?

In contrast to the essentially two-party system of U.S. politics, elections in Japan see candidates from a large number of factions vying to occupy governmental seats. So in order to make sure their potential constituents recognize and remember them, most political hopefuls’ campaign posters consist of a large close-up of their dignified, confident faces, with their name splashed across the image in bold, clear script.

But while Aichi Prefecture-native Satoshi Shimaemployed both of those elements in his posters for this week’s House of Representatives election, he also added a pretty adorable wrinkle to the design.

我輩は「島ニャン」である。候補者ではない。候補者「島さとし」の政策を聞いて、ぜひ二枚目（比例区）は「島さとし」に投票して欲しいニャン。第4次産業革命で経済成長！https://t.co/pOHPTkSM9x pic.twitter.com/2QUIo6OOL4

— 嶋聡 (@satoshi_shima) July 7, 2016

Just to be clear, Shima isn’t a gigantic cat. He’s actually the smiling, mild-mannered-looking 58-year-old gentleman who appears along the right edge of the image. The kitty is Shima Nyan, the candidate’s unofficial spokesfeline.

While this might look like the brainchild of an inexperienced, first-time candidate, Shima is actually a political veteran who has served three terms in the House of Representatives, with his tenure lasting from 1996 to 2005. With the recent lowering of the voting age in Japan from 20 to 18, this week’s election was the first in which older teens could vote, and Shima wanted to create an interesting poster to catch their attention. Being a cat owner himself, he decided to incorporate one into his poster.

▼ Shima’s cat, Belle.

午前10時の投票率、7・9%で前回下回る。有名になったポスターの「白い猫島ニャン」でなく、我が家の「ベル」が「皆さん、投票に行きましょう！」と言ってます。 pic.twitter.com/H6V6YsZQB2

— 嶋聡 (@satoshi_shima) July 10, 2016

But rather than recruiting his own pet, Shima decided to employ a snowy white cat with a coat similar to that of the beloved dog that appears in commercials for mobile phone carrier SoftBank, where Shima previously held the position of executive secretary. The fact that Japanese politicians often campaign wearing unsullied white gloves, a metaphor for their purportedly pure, uncorrupted hearts, probably also played a part in Shima Nyan’s selection.

白い猫のポスター、全国に展開中！本日は山梨で発見報告が！ー pic.twitter.com/DdLQFuiixB

— 嶋聡 (@satoshi_shima) June 26, 2016

Unfortunately for Shima, his clever tactic was not enough to secure victory, as he failed to secure the post he was running for. As such, he’ll head back to teaching at Tokyo’s Tama University. The future of Tama Nyan’s political ambitions remains unknown.

Source: IT Media, Twitter/@satoshi_shima

Follow Casey on Twitter, where he has to admit that he’ll probably vote for you if your put a killer whale on your campaign poster.