The Liberal Democratic Party has learned that the totally unexpected can sometimes happen in the high-tech age.

Baffled members of the LDP's presidential election management committee were hastily summoned to an impromptu meeting Thursday afternoon. The agenda: A postcard to be used to vote for the Sept. 20 election had been put up for auction on a Web site organized by Yahoo Japan Corp. What to do about it?

"This is something we never dreamed of happening," bewildered committee chairman Kazuo Tanikawa, 72, told a news conference later in the day.