Are the Kids Alright? Young People and Turnout in Japan

Abstract

This chapter examines youth turnout in the Japanese Lower House Election of 2022. The author shows that the various mobilization efforts had very little effect on young people’s turnout. She claims that the LDP has depressed young people’s engagement with politics in the various ways it depoliticizes politics. As part of this governing strategy of depoliticization, the state has limited citizens’ opportunities for participation and has cultivated, or mandated, an atmosphere of depoliticization that discourages citizen interest and engagement. The state does so through depoliticizing schools, broadcasting, restricting youth political activities, campaigning, and curtailing NPOs. Depoliticization means that young people do not receive political information and cues from elites that impart a sense of the excitement of politics or the legitimacy of political conflict through mainstream channels.