Many have pointed out that the recent Lower House election had an extremely low voter turnout. In fact, sources suggest it was the lowest turnout since voting began again in 1946 following the US Occupation of Japan, only reaching around 52%.
When national broadcaster NHK took to the streets to ask people what they thought about the election results, one answer from a young woman really rattled 2ch netizens. The woman, in her twenties, told reporters that she and her friends didn’t vote because “it was too cold”.
The woman’s answer has led many to question how the younger generations really perceive their right to vote and shape Japanese politics.
From NHK News:
Results Of The Lower House Election: Voices On The Street
Regarding the recent Lower House election in which the LDP and Komeito acquired over 2/3 of the total number of seats, the number of people in Tokyo’s Shibuya district who accepted the results as being what they expected certainly stood out. But, after this opinions were heard that called for policies that focused on the younger generation, including economic measures.
One housewife in her 30s told us:”I sort of feel that there’s not much point to it since the opposing party have no policies that are attractive to me. I want the economic climate to improve, for the economy to grove strong”.
A company employee in his 50s said: “Going from the way things are right now, I guess it’s right. I’m looking forward to the boost as we go into the Olympics, in addition to measure to stimulate the economy”.
A beautician in her 20s told us that “I get the impression that the people around me don’t go out to vote, that it’s only the elderly who go to vote. I’m worried that even if I pay into a pension now, I might not get paid it in the future, so I’d like them to be firmer on that point”.
Moreover, it appears that the recent election had the lowest voter turnout since the end of WW2, and a company employee in her twenties, who did not go to vote, said: “There were a lot of people on Twitter saying like, ‘oh, it’s really cold, I’m not going to vote’, no one was really interested in the election. I wasn’t really bothered about going either. If they made it easier to vote, like if everyone could vote online, then I reckon everyone would vote”.
Comments from 2ch.net:
32文ロケット砲(大阪府)＠＼(^o^)／:
Really was cold.
ミドルキック(チベット自治区)＠＼(^o^)／:
I’m feeling a bit cold today too, guess I won’t go to work.
キングコングニードロップ(大阪府)＠＼(^o^)／:
It’s a pain have people who aren’t interested in it vote.
Don’t bother coming.
But don’t complain about it after the fact.
サソリ固め(チベット自治区)＠＼(^o^)／:
I went, but I guess online voting is possible.
Seems like they could use IC confirmation on resident registration cards or driver’s licenses.
I guess they’d have a problem with identity theft through.
スターダストプレス(WiMAX)＠＼(^o^)／:
If they’d give out promotional tickets for regional events I’d go.
フェイスクラッシャー(庭)＠＼(^o^)／:
From here on, this is the generation that’s going to be at the center of our society.
You know where it goes from there.
ドラゴンスクリュー(チベット自治区)＠＼(^o^)／:
I think that online voting would be fine if they can avoid fraud.
Just doesn’t seem like a good idea to me though.
テキサスクローバーホールド(WiMAX)＠＼(^o^)／:
This time they got caught out because there were actual errors in the vote count.
If they did the vote online, it’d be fraud central.
稲妻レッグラリアット(四国地方)＠＼(^o^)／:
From the perspective of security and protection of personal information these days, when we have problems with system cracking and identity confirmation I don’t think that we are able to vote online.
ブラディサンデー(SB-iPhone)＠＼(^o^)／:
If you could vote easily online, then organised voting would be less attractive, so so the “unified” LDP and the “soka” Komeito would probably vehemently oppose it.
ダイビングヘッドバット(WiMAX)＠＼(^o^)／:
What’s more, if people who know nothing about politics vote just based on image, then all that would happen is that political parties that looked good would benefit.
フロントネックロック(三重県)＠＼(^o^)／:
I didn’t feel too good, but I still went.
垂直落下式DDT(dion軍)＠＼(^o^)／:
It’s because you lot don’t go to vote that people like Kan get voted in.
ツームストンパイルドライバー(北海道)＠＼(^o^)／:
This is proof of what peace means.
Even if we have discontent or complaints it never occurs to us that we want to do something about it.
I really despair that 50% of the Japanese people think this way.
男色ドライバー(庭)＠＼(^o^)／:
Losers who use something like “because it was cold” as a reason for not voting shouldn’t bother voting in the first place.
エメラルドフロウジョン(SB-iPhone)＠＼(^o^)／:
You’re not going because it’s cold?
If it were warm you’d be going off somewhere to have fun, so basically you don’t vote, right?
キャプチュード(静岡県)＠＼(^o^)／:
If they made temporary voting stations outside train stations, I reckon voter turnout would go up.
シャイニングウィザード(新疆ウイグル自治区)＠＼(^o^)／:
Online voting would create organized voting among the young,so it would be inconvenient for the elderly.
