Campaign

Can a candidate without either political experience or charisma win in elections? If he has the backing of the Japanese prime minister Koizumi and his Liberal Democratic Party the answer is very likely to be in the affirmative! Kazuhiko Yamauchi (a Tokyo University classmate of the director's) has a calm and tedious life until the autumn of 2005, when Koizumi's party selects him at the last minute as its official candidate for a place on the Kawasaki city council. With zero experience in politics and without the support of voters, Yamauchi spends a week campaigning ahead of the elections. He visits social events, meetings with pensioners, bus stations and stops, shaking hands with all he meets. The film presents a humorous view of political strategy, values and tradition in Japan; at the same time, the director attempts to portray contemporary Japanese society and the slightly incomprehensible world of Japanese democracy.