Japan Political Parties Boosting Online Outreach Spending

Tokyo, Nov. 28 (Jiji Press)–Japanese political parties are boosting spending on online outreach, with upstart Sanseito marking a 14-fold jump in expenditures for Google advertisements in 2024, political fund reports published by the internal affairs ministry showed Friday. Sanseito, which significantly expanded its seats in the July election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament, paid a total of 37 million yen in advertising fees to Google Japan G.K. a unit of U.S. giant Google LLC, in 2024. Reiwa Shinsengumi paid 36.6 million yen to Google Japan in advertising and internet advertising fees, while Komeito paid the company 28.8 million yen in advertising fees. There is no unified standard for recording expenditures in political fund reports, making accurate comparisons between parties difficult. The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan booked a total of 155 million yen under online outreach expenses, which were paid to advertising and video production companies. Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) spent more than 200 million yen in total on online ad management fees and video production fees. The Democratic Party for the People, whose leader Yuichiro Tamaki frequently conducts livestreams, did not see a significant increase in related expenditures from the year before. The party is encouraging citizens to create highlight clips from its videos and record street speeches, which it hopes will go viral on social media. The Liberal Democratic Party’s funds report does not clarify how much the ruling party spent on online outreach, which is believed to be included in its more than 200 million yen booked as advertising fees. Political groups other than party headquarters also reported internet-related expenses. Outlays recorded in funds reports included costs for video-shooting equipment such as cameras for vlogs, or video blogs, microphones and lighting, TikTok management outsourcing fees, costs for production of Instagram and other social media content, and Twitter analysis expenses. Shinji Ishimaru, who was runner-up in the 2024 Tokyo gubernatorial election, is believed to have expanded his support through social media. His support group spent 22 million yen on targeted ads, which are displayed in line with internet users’ interests. Ishimaru received more than 314 million yen in donations from individuals. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]