This campaign season differs from others in many ways, but none so exasperatingly as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s refusing to meet with the foreign press. The LDP announced it would not hold its regular press conference with foreign journalists this time around, claiming they are too busy. Combined with other LDP-related issues, this refusal reveals a disturbing aspect of the LDP’s approach to campaigning and to governing.

For many years in Japan, foreign journalists were not allowed to attend regular press conferences for Japanese journalists. Instead, foreign journalists were given access to government and party representatives at specially arranged press conferences, usually held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ), a fee-paying club that serves as the host for news conferences with important politicians, entertainers, academics and other notables. For this election, for the first time in many years, the LDP did not agree to meet the foreign press there.

Busy as the LDP no doubt is, perhaps the fear of being questioned too aggressively is the real reason for not showing up. The press conferences at FCCJ tend to follow the world standard of serious, probing questions about political positions and actual issues. The impression left is that the LDP wants to avoid any serious scrutiny on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s policies. If they believe their policies are really the right ones, they should be seeking opportunities to promote themselves, not running for cover.

The LDP and the prime minister do seem to understand the importance of promoting themselves through government secrecy and campaign contributions. This year the LDP raised 43.4 percent more in donations from companies, labor unions and industry groups than ever before. In time for the elections, the government also announced that 460,000 government documents would be newly tagged as “special secrets” after it forced through a contentious law that will severely limit citizen access to government information a year ago.

Oddly this refusal to talk with journalists comes after an embarrassing incident in which Abe scolded a 20-year-old college student for posing as an elementary school student online. Perhaps the prime minister does not really understand the Internet, where people are free to make criticisms from any number of points of view. His scolding of the student seemed to show discomfort with unrestricted commentary.

These combined actions, amid economic indicators pointing toward a new recession, indicate the LDP is more concerned with maintaining its grip on power than with transparency, accountability and the free flow of vital information.

A party that seeks to run the world’s third-largest economy should have a dedicated press agent who can work with the foreign press and establish a way of communicating better with the rest of the world.