Trial to run political ads at convenience stores canceled
A planned trial run for displaying Japanese political advertisements on convenience stores' electronic signage screens has been canceled, an association promoting the digitalization of election campaigns said Monday.
The first attempt to run such ads using a retailer's digital signage had been scheduled to start Tuesday and last for a week at FamilyMart Co stores in Tokyo, in a bid to encourage young people to become more interested in politics amid low voter turnout.
"The dates were not met as we carefully considered whether to participate in the trial," a company official said, adding the major convenience store chain will continue studying ways to contribute to improving voter turnout using digital signage.
The trial was to have taken place before the start Friday of campaigning for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election. Companies in Japan have so far refrained from utilizing their digital signage to run political advertisements.
The initiative was announced on May 20 by the association for digital transformation of policy and public affairs. Members of the group include lawmakers, people in the advertising industry and legal experts.
They held a press conference in the Diet attended by senior members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and opposition parties including the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Japan Innovation Party and the Democratic Party for the People.
© KYODO
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nikkei Asia
an hour ago
- Nikkei Asia
Nippon Steel set to complete $14bn acquisition of U.S. Steel next week
SHOTARO TANI and NAOKI MATSUDA TOKYO -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday cancelled the decision by former President Joe Biden to block Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel, paving the way for the Japanese company to finalize its takeover of its American counterpart. Nippon Steel is expected to complete the acquisition on Wednesday U.S. time, buying all U.S. Steel shares for $14.1 billion.
Yomiuri Shimbun
an hour ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Lithuanian President: More Defense Spending Needed; Nauseda Stresses Need for Greater Cooperation
The Yomiuri Shimbun Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda stressed the need for increased defense capabilities in light of Russia's continued aggression in Ukraine, in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun on Tuesday. 'I think this is important to understand that those countries will never calm down, and they will try to escalate tension to create additional challenges,' he said of Russia and its ally Belarus. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is considering a proposal to raise each member's defense spending target to 5% of its gross domestic product by 2032, and Nauseda said Lithuania will surpass this target next year. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has been strongly urging European countries to increase their defense spending. Nauseda noted that the risk of an attack by Russia is increasing. 'We have not so much time to prepare ourselves,' he said, adding that even European countries geographically distant from Ukraine should increase their defense spending as soon as possible. Nauseda said that, as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran strengthen their ties, cooperation between Europe and Japan is becoming even more important. 'They are the threat to all of us, so we have to unite our forces in order to take those threats and to build the wall of resilience … In this geopolitical context, to stick together, it's even more important' than before, he said. The Japanese government has announced that it will dispatch Defense Ministry officials to Lithuania's Regional Cyber Defense Centre (RCDC) starting later this month, which Nauseda called a 'very good example of our cooperation in this very important field.'
Yomiuri Shimbun
4 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Akazawa Calls Latest U.S. Trade Talks ‘Deep,' Offers No Prediction on Any Imminent Outcome
The Yomiuri Shimbun Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa speaks to reporters after his sixth talks with U.S officials over tariffs in Washington on Friday. Economic revitalization minister Ryosei Akazawa and U.S. government officials held their sixth ministerial negotiation talks on Friday in Washington over the tariff measures of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. After the meeting, Akazawa told reporters, 'We held very deep discussions to search for a possibility of reaching an agreement.' The Japan-U.S. ministerial talks have been held for four consecutive weeks. Akazawa held talks with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for about 70 minutes and with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for about 45 minutes, one after another. After the talks, Akazawa did not clearly mention a possibility of reaching an agreement during Group of Seven summit to be held from Sunday to Tuesday in Canada. A Japan-U.S. summit is scheduled to be held on the sidelines of the G7 summit. He briefly said, 'I want to refrain from making any predictions. So far, the Japanese government has repeatedly demanded that all U.S. 'reciprocal tariffs' on automobiles, steel and aluminum exports from Japan be abolished. Akazawa avoided clearly answering a question over whether he reiterated the demand in the latest talks. In the preceding talks, the Japanese side proposed to increase imports of U.S. agricultural products and reexamine 'non-tariff trade barriers' against U.S. cars in line with requests from the Trump administration. The Japanese government is also considering collaborations on strengthening supply chains for rare earths and semiconductors. In the evening on Friday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba held telephone talks with Trump for about 20 minutes and agreed to hold an in-person meeting separately from the G7 summit. Attention will focus on whether the leaders will be able to reach an agreement based on discussions in the ministerial talks. Rare earth magnets The government has begun internal discussions on proposing cooperation with the United States to strengthen supply chains for powerful magnets made with rare earths in the ongoing Japan-U.S. trade negotiations over the Trump administration's tariff policy, according to Japanese government sources. China holds a major share of the market for high-performance magnets. The government expects that Japan and the United States will promote the building of supply chains which will not rely on China and aim to make progress in the tariff talks, which are entering a decisive phase. Magnets made with rare earths are essential for manufacturing motors of electric vehicles and devices used in missiles. In the case of neodymium magnets, a typical product of the kind, China holds more than an 80% share of *global production. Japan, which has high-level manufacturing technologies, holds a 15% share. The United States is struggling to find ways to deal with China's restrictions on exports of rare earths. The Japanese government aims to show a stance of contributing to U.S. manufacturing industries in fields in which Japanese manufacturers have high competitiveness. In doing so, the government wants to draw concessions from the United States on tariff issues, such as the 25% additional tariff on Japanese-made cars, as automobile manufacturing is Japan's core industry.
