Lessons from direct democracy in Japan

Last Sunday there was an election in my town. I'm not sure what for or who won, but I definitely knew there was an election and the names of several people running. I don't read the newspaper (mostly because I can't read the newspaper) and nothing on TV talked about these local elections. So how did I know about this election?

Someone drove by in a car and told me.

Actually several people drove by in a couple of cars and told me constantly for the past week or two. My understanding is that soliciting door to door isn't allowed in Japan. So instead people put loud speakers and billboards on top of their cars and

The other night I had a closer encounter with one of the candidates, or at least his supporters. As I was walking across the street a car flashed on its lights and turned towards me. The windows started to roll down, hands covered in white gloves came out waving, and a loud speaker started spouting out the candidates name. The car looked something like this: