On June 18, the Chair of the DPJ Election Campaign Committee Jun Azumi held a press conference at party headquarters to announce that the new DPJ TV commercial entitled “People Power United” (tentative translation) had been completed and would be broadcast starting the following day, June 19.

This commercial focuses on the life history of DPJ President, Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who was brought up in an ordinary family, and from humble beginnings as a grassroots activist and then a lawmaker belonging to a minor political party, the United Social Democratic Party, rose to become the 94th Prime Minister of Japan, and aims to illustrate Kan’s political stance. The objective of Kan’s mode of governance is to exert leadership as a representative of the ordinary people, and to unite “the power of the people” in other words “people power”, and “restore Japan’s vitality” (tentative translation).

In response to a reporter’s question, Azumi said, “I proposed [this commercial]. I showed it to the Prime Minister. He said that he laughed [when he saw it]. It includes photos of him in his younger days and so he was a bit embarrassed by that. When I explained that it was intended to enable people to understand Naoto Kan the politician, he responded ‘I can see that.’”

Azumi gave his own appraisal of the commercial, saying, “It was made with the intention that it should communicate what kind of person the Prime Minister is, and if that intention is communicated, I believe that is sufficient. I am fully confident [it achieves this].”