Is This an Election Poster?... 'Dokdo is Japanese Territory' Appears on Japanese Election Bulletin Board

Posted on Bulletin Boards in Tokyo Korea Town and in Front of Joseon Schools
Political Groups 'Selling' Posts for Money with Desired Content

Ahead of the Tokyo Metropolitan Governor election in Japan, a large number of posters bearing the phrase "Takeshima (竹島, the name Japan claims for Dokdo) is Japanese territory" were posted on local election bulletin boards.

Yonhap News reported on the video that appeared on the YouTube channel of a person who identified themselves as a member of the political group "The Party to Protect the People from NHK" on the 21st. The YouTube post shows 24 posters each of the Japanese flag alongside the phrase "Takeshima is Japanese land" and posters demanding the return of abductees in front of Tokyo’s Korea Town and Korean schools’ election bulletin boards.

The party member also posted on X (formerly Twitter). He wrote, "After putting up posters demanding the return of all abductees (from North Korea) and stating that Takeshima is Japanese territory on the bulletin boards in Korea Town and in front of Korean schools, the response has been tremendous." He also added a warning, "Removing or damaging election posters without permission is a violation of the Public Offices Election Act and will lead to arrest."

Poster boards of Tokyo gubernatorial election candidates plastered with posters stating "Dokdo is Japanese territory" [Image source: Screenshot from Japanese X (formerly Twitter) user who identified as a member of the "Party to Protect the People from NHK," Yonhap News]

This incident occurred as "The Party to Protect the People from NHK" fielded 24 candidates with the aim of making money by using election bulletin boards. The group recruited donors by offering to post posters of their choice instead of candidate posters on the 14,000 election bulletin boards installed throughout Tokyo. Asahi Shimbun reported, "The party demanded 10,000 yen (about 87,000 won) per bulletin board as a posting fee," and "It is known that there were inquiries from about 900 locations, mainly in some central urban areas, expressing interest in posting posters."

Such actions have been criticized as an "election business" exploiting a loophole in the Public Offices Election Act, which generally does not restrict the content of posters on election bulletin boards. The Tokyo Metropolitan Election Commission announced that over 1,000 complaints related to election posters had been received by the previous day and the morning of the current day.

One candidate received a warning from the police for violating local ordinances after posting a poster of a woman in revealing clothing. In response to the controversy, Yoshimasa Hayashi, Chief Cabinet Secretary and government spokesperson, explained, "Election bulletin boards are installed for candidates to post their own campaign posters and cannot be used by non-candidates." However, Japanese election law does not have provisions restricting poster content, only punishing the dissemination of false information.

A record 56 candidates registered for this Tokyo gubernatorial election. The election bulletin boards prepared by the local election commission were designed to accommodate posters for only 48 candidates. Accordingly, the commission provided separate boards and clear files to the eight candidates who registered from the 49th onward and requested that they attach their posters themselves.