Early Bird gets the Vote?

It's October 10th, which means that the official campaign period for Japan's 2017 election to decide the members of the House of Representatives has begun.  As I was on my way to school today, I checked out the candidate board.  Here's what I saw:

Only one poster was up.  This particular individual is running as an independent, but her campaign machine was on point with ensuring her promotional poster (the only kind officially sanctioned in Japanese political campaigns) was up first.

Unfortunately for Odaira-san, running as an independent comes with significant challenges in a system that favors a single-party (the Liberal Democratic Party) and a handful of opposition parties.  Independents are few among standing members of the Diet (Japan's parliament).

Still, she was the early bird, so I wish her and her team all the best as this campaign season (though perhaps too short to call a "season") gets underway!