Voting in Japan can be similar to any democratic nations but there are several things which are not similar related to election campaigns.
At first, you can see posters of the candidates in Europe but these posters must be placed on the designated boards provided and managed by the local authorities. Of course the size of the poster is also regulated. Then, all candidates' posters are placed on the single board.
Next difference is that these candidates are having their speeches in front of audiences during the designated campaign period. Usually one of the candidate stands in front of major station and talks about his political manifesto and opinions to attract the voters to vote him. Other rival candidates will have a speech at different places. Also these candidates have a time to have a speech on TV. These speeches are recorded in advance and then air played one by one.
Therefore it is easy to determine which candidate has a strong will to be elected. Of course there are many candidates who do not belong to any political parties or belongs to weird parties. These candidates will not give any speech at the station or sometimes do not put their posters on the designated places. Of course the posters should be paid from candidates' pockets or by the political parties.