Japanese celebrities urge young people to vote in general election

Most of the actors in the video are probably people who have not voted.

Saw this commercial yesterday it was quite odd to say the least. Hubby gave it a thumbs up. I was like, wow, weird.

Vote for the Prime Minister? No, they do not have the right to vote for the Prime Minister here in Japan. So why vote?

Definitely a hard sell. CM will be ignored.

The opening scene features actor Fumi Nikaido, 27, saying, "This is neither an advertisement nor a political campaign," followed by actor Taiga Nakano, 28, who says, "We made this video of our own free will."

Sounds like a kidnapping video. " We want to invoke the power of Japanese youth to change this nation. With an election that will inevitably result in the same Showa-era politicians and ruling party and policies as before. The city-dwelling voice of the youth will be drowned out 7 to 1 by the power of rural geriatrics. And our talent agencies, who control our purse strings, surely did not pressure us to do this under the influence of advertising controlled broadcasters and agencies like Dentsu. "

Who funded or initiated this campaign?

Good idea, but first young people need to start seeing a connection between politics and their lives.

It's a start and hopefully younger people will realize it's the only way to meaningful change. Only way to get rid of decades of LDP rule and stagnation.

Maybe the only way to pique the interest of younger Japanese people save Mickey Mouse or Pika Chu getting on the stump.

i've got a better idea - allow the people to vote via in their animal crossing game!!!

young ppl these days spend most of their time in these virtual lives...thats the only place you get their attention...

Now all they need is a good option to vote for. It's not hard to see why people don't bother voting.

Encouraging young people to vote is OK, but voting means little if we just get the status quo when everything is falling apart. How about encouraging them to learn about how the structures of power and finance control the conditions of their lives and their life chances? Encourage them to talk with their friends and debate various issues. Make these discussions "Kako-ii" rather than "Dasai".

Also, use your creative abilities to make information easier to understand. Why not explain how the Japan pension fund invests in corporations that are destroying the ecological conditions of the planet, or how the regressive consumption tax hurts the working poor and how the income tax rate has been changed to benefit the higher income earners? Tell them how if they vote for people who really are trying to challenge the structural conditions, then change just might be possible.

Well they lost already.... "urge".....

Vote for the Prime Minister? No, they do not have the right to vote for the Prime Minister here in Japan. So why vote?

To make a statement like this, says quite a bit about how much you dont know about Japanese politics.

Not voting literally gives the election to the LDP. If the younger people DO actually get out and vote, it WILL make things a lot more interesting, as the LDP does not have a strong backing among the younger generations, who are strongly influenced by media savvy candidates, and younger one's, closer to their age.

One you have a ONE PARTY RULE there is NO POINT in voting.

Vote for the defacto one party state? What's the point?

More like they should protest and create a "Japanese Spring" in politics.

But will do nothing

I feel jealous. In my home country the votes counting is rigged for more than 25 years, so I never voted in my entire life.

Yes, why not…but it’s irrelevant for the results. Even if totally contrary distributed, that small minority won’t change much. And even if that happens is more than unclear, more probable is a quite similar vote distribution like in the other age group intervals.

The opening scene features actor Fumi Nikaido, 27, saying, "This is neither an advertisement nor a political campaign," followed by actor Taiga Nakano, 28, who says, "We made this video of our own free will."

If in fact this video was made by the actors on their own free will why would actor Taigo Nakano have to make the announcement. I guess that too was scripted. If these actors want to remain popular the best thing for them to do is "Entertain" and not get involved in trying to persuade people to vote. Lesson learn look at what a mess the entertainers and athletes has done to the voting system in the US. They have polluted in a sense where as we now say "shout up and act and shut up and dribble".

MarkToday  07:43 pm JST

One you have a ONE PARTY RULE there is NO POINT in voting.

When you have a TRUE ONE PARTY RULE as in China, there is NO VOTING.

MarkToday  07:43 pm JST

One you have a ONE PARTY RULE there is NO POINT in voting.

When you have a TRUE ONE PARTY RULE as in China, there is NO VOTING.

Ossan, you are absolutely obsessed with China.

Obsessions aside, What do you think of the near total stranglehold on power the LDP have had on Japan? Is it a good or bad thing?

Could you link us to the video, so I can send the link to a few young non voters that I know?

but among those aged 18 and 19 it stood at around 30 percent, according to the government

That's because all they know how to do is follow others and study for the center or university exams.

Before Japan gets the young people to vote, they gotta teach them how to think and be independent.

Ask one of these young people what their favorite food is, they'll take at least 5 minutes to answer, or have to discuss it with their friends first.

It shouldn't be celebrities telling young people to vote, but the politicians themselves. But its one thing to tell young people to vote and another to have someone who something meaningful to vote for.

So far, I haven't heard any politician or party appeal to young people. Rather, its been talk about defense spending or travel campaigns for the elderly.

While all the voting choices in front of me are disappointingly terrible, Give me 6 minutes of Kanna Hashimoto asking the younger generation to vote and then, I might... consider about casting my vote. She's the only celeb i'm willing to listen to in that bunch.

That's because all they know how to do is follow others and study for the center or university exams.

True. My wife a teacher at a high school. She said for a fact that none of them even care to know the name of even the current prime minister.

First, do young people know, what they want???.

Wow. So much disdain and stereotypes about young people in this thread.

Regardless of how much time someone spends playing Animal Crossing (for exp), the right to vote is the right to vote. And it makes me cringe seeing people think that some people are less worthy of that right simply because they’re not like you.

I’ll add an addendum - saying things like “do they even know what they want?”

You can ask that of ANY person regardless of age, considering the current political stagnation was brought about with low voter participation.

Everyone thinks they know better than everyone else… oy vey.

@warispeace

Encouraging young people to vote is OK, but voting means little if we just get the status quo when everything is falling apart. How about encouraging them to learn about how the structures of power and finance control the conditions of their lives and their life chances? Encourage them to talk with their friends and debate various issues. Make these discussions "Kako-ii" rather than "Dasai".

Yeah… that’s not mutually exclusive. You can do all those things AND still vote.

Good idea, but first young people need to start seeing a connection between politics and their lives.

When they realize that they are paying interest for a huge amount of debt and the notice taxes going up, that is when they know politics is important in their lives.

Given that the LDP benefits from low voter turnout, could it be said that these actors wish to see a change in government?

It’s a fairly simple predicament with straightforward solution.

Education!

Society, government and its relationship with its citizens coupled with aspects of social sciences,

The 18 to 35 defined as a political voting demographic, conducted with clustering analysis of the age of willingness to participate.

Look, this ghastly, gory pontification, a condescending, the imperious celebrity, laced with a nauseous patronizing superiority, is the very reason why street wise youth turn that backs in disgust.

Grim is a understatement.

This social media political stuff movie is so phoney, gratuitous, some were reading from a script, is beyond cringeworthy, it should be defined as a criminal act.

Taiga Nakano, 28, who says, "We made this video of our own free will."

Why would a person feel the compulsion, the need to make such a delinquent ludicrous statement in a voting democracy?