Young people not going to ballot stations means decision-making will be done by elderly people, leading to a society with little consideration towards youth -- which is scary.

If you do not vote you can’t really complain about the result.

Young people in Japan vote the same as older people anyway unfortunately. That is why the LDP opened up voting to 18 year olds.

If the young can't be bothered to go to the polling stations and vote, why should politicians give them any consideration?

Your average young person couldn’t give a toss, nor spends a single minute of their lives pondering what sort of country they would like Japan to become. The education system and culture aversion to talking politics ( try and see how quickly the conversation ends ) has them almost totally disengaged. The “Decisions are for other people to make, not me” mentality.

Apart from a few fringe groups often comprised of the socially inept and oddballs, people just don’t care. They may care in a few years or so if things heat up in the region and a war breaks out, but of course by then it will be too late.

In the meantime we get the geriatrics version of a sports day. Get out those colored headbands guys, blast those mikes! The J version of democracy is Omoroi. At least the campaign time is short and sweet, then it’s back to business as usual, and that’s the way they like it. The old ship sails on.

@Ricky, Awesome post you have surely hit the nail squarely on its head with what you said.

Thomas GoodtimeToday  07:18 am JST

People from other countries living in Japan can't vote (wrongly in my opinion), but aren't they allowed to complain?

I think Luddite was referring to people who can vote but choose not to.

For something like a referendum, voting is important. For elections, not voting may be a political act.

Casting a vote gives legitimacy to politicians who may not deserve it. Folk may feel that there is little real difference between the parties and that neither are trustworthy. I certainly do after the last couple of years in the UK. I don't like Tories and I despise Johnson, the liar-in-chief of the Brexit referendum. But looking at the Culture wars erupting, would the left be any better? I doubt it. I think they would be just as bad but in a different way. In the 20thC right wing censorship was a problem. Now, left wing censorship may be more of a problem. There is no party I can honestly support. I now feel like a colonial, being ruled by an Imperial power. The political make-up of that power is irrelevant. I have no desire to legitimise it with my vote.

If you do vote for a party, you don't get to complain for the term of their office, and you are responsible for what they do. So don't assume that you are seeing apathy. What you may be seeing is a realistic response to politicians 'taking back control'. If their intention is to manipulate, control and spy on us, and their policies are almost identical, does it really matter who they are? It is like being abducted and asked who you wish to rob and beat you.

It's funny that 45 years old is considered young.

And how does that change the old geezers that are on the ballot? It's like saying more young people should go to restaurant X, but that doesn't change what's on the menu.

But let's get to the important things: Isn't it crazy for someone to make two accounts so they can praise themselves? And shouldn't the minimum voting age be 60 anyway?