Candidates get a brief slot on public television, usually in the early or late-night hours when few are watching, to make their pitch. The rest of the time it's down to campaigning in neighborhoods, walking through the streets and making speeches outside railway stations.

It's all designed, the law's defenders say, to stop the candidate with the deepest pockets from dominating the race.

But the law has an increasing number of critics, and not just Twittering politicians. Voter turnout among the young is poor and some believe it's because the old-fashioned way of campaigning has failed to energize a population that is surrounded by digital media from the day they are born.

"The Internet must be made available for election campaigns as soon as possible," the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's second-largest newspaper, wrote in a recent .

But the Aug. 30 election could be the law's last stand.