Proclivity of political participation among Wakaidesu (若いです) Japanese

• Main Authors: S. Y., Ahmad N., M. D., Syed, Mohd Azizuddin, Mohd Sani
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2019
• Subjects: JQ Political institutions Asia
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/26422/1/PJSHH%2025%20S%202017%20123%20138.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/26422/; https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1219877
• Institution: Universiti Utara Malaysia

Wakaidesu (若いです) or Young Japanese have been seen as being indifferent to politics and do not seem to regard political parties as representing their concerns. This is a blow to the Japanese democracy as the great majority of youth are politically apathetic and they are distancing themselves from active participation in politics. This paper describes the growing political apathy among young Japanese citizens aged between 20 and 35 that needs to be changed. Policies of the state should advocate for issues of interest to younger voters. The engagement of Japanese youth is reflected in three major issues: the feminist movement, community service and environmental protection, all of which will be discussed in this paper. The country urgently needs more young Japanese to be engaged in issues concerning the relationship between the economic and political state of the nation. The paper argued that the political involvement of young Japanese is not being attended to seriously. Instead, political parties are busy securing votes from the largest group of voters, ignoring the young. This has led to the increase of political apathy among young voters, bringing the Japanese democracy into decline. Finally, the paper will also discuss a cultural ethnographic study on the use of the media among Malaysian youth as a comparative analysis to show how self-identity and social identity can be built.