Japan's recent local elections have attracted some attention, not because of the excitement, but because there does not seem to be too many young people participating. According to reports, there were some problems in Japan's local elections, such as Kanagawa Prefecture Governor Yuji Kuroiwa who was exposed to cheating, but was still successfully re-elected; Nagasaki Prefectural Councilman Kitamura Kijutsu almost ripped off the pull ring after drinking high; Others won and were elected because of controversial issues. These circumstances make one wonder, is there no more suitable candidate?
The governor of Kanagawa Prefecture, Yuji Kuroiwa, is not an impressively good person from his appearance, especially after the news that he sent obscene text messages to his orbital partners. However, despite such a scandal, he not only managed to be re-elected, but also won by an overwhelming margin of more than 1 million votes over the second place. This made some Japanese netizens complain on Twitter, feeling that choosing an abnormal uncle as an official, what happened to the people of Kanagawa Prefecture?
One of the main reasons for this is the apathy towards politics among young voters. A pre-election survey showed that 67.7% of young people did not know that local elections would be held in April, in other words, only 1 in 3 young people knew of the existence of elections. As a result, the majority of the final participants were middle-aged and elderly voters. Many older voters are conservative in their thinking, less receptive to change and innovation, and reluctant to try new leadership, even if they are dissatisfied with the current leader. This is because coherence in local policies is crucial to a region's development, and a new leader may change the policies of the previous government.
Another problem is the lack of young faces among candidates. Despite their experience, older politicians tend to care more about the interests of middle-aged and older voters and less about the needs and opinions of younger people. This makes it difficult for young voters to find political figures to represent them, further exacerbating their political apathy.
In order to increase the voter motivation of young people, the Japanese government has tried to take some measures, but with limited success. For example, a large ramen restaurant chain tried to entice young people to vote by renewing noodles for free, but the move did not achieve much success. For Japan's Gen Z youth, politics seems to be far removed from their lives, and they are more concerned with their spiritual world than less willing to participate in political elections. However, in a society dominated by older people, it is almost impossible for young people to change the status quo.
However, young people are the future of the country, and if they lose faith in it, the future of the country will also become bleak. In the face of an aging population and a declining birthrate, government policies may be more inclined to meet the needs of the older population, which will be a burden on the younger generation. While declining turnout among younger voters has negatively impacted their economic situation, they seem to have lost interest in politics. In this context, young people are disappointed with democracy, and a mentality of "whether you vote or not, you will elect those old men, it is better not to participate".
In short, Japan's problems with local elections reflect the political apathy of young people and some of the shortcomings of the political system. Changing this will require governments to do more to attract young voters, as well as to be more politically active and advocate for their future.