Women's political representation in Japan has been limited as compared to their high achievement and success in various fields. Stereotypes and media portrayals of women politicians have been regarded as crucial factors to affect gendered reaction to women politicians and low representation of women in politics. In recent times, social media is becoming essential tools for politicians to build their self-image by appealing more directly and to engage in the political process more interactively. It is argued that social media would advantage to political outsiders in particular, including women politicians. This research investigated campaign strategy of women candidates on Twitter during the election period with emphases on the 'representation' of issues and personal traits, and 'interaction' with voters. A total of 699 tweets of four women candidates in the 2013 election, Japan's first 'Internet election', were analyzed for the study. The results revealed that women candidates focused on the issues that have been viewed as male and female issues equally, indicating that women candidates might overcome disadvantages of gendered print and broadcast media framing by using social networking. Representation of personal traits and interaction with voters on Twitter varied according to the candidates: Renho's tweets were the most interactive and often mentioned everyday lives and personal information, while the other women candidates centered on political views.

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