Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 25 (S): 123 - 138 (2017) SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES Journal homepage: http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/ Proclivity of Political Participation among Wakaidesu (若いです) Japanese Ahmad, N. S. Y.1*, Syed, M. D.2 and Sani, M. A.3 1Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2Department of Media Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3School of International Studies, COLGIS, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia ABSTRACT 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. Keywords: Political apathy, political participation, young Japanese, voter ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received: 23 July 2016 INTRODUCTION Accepted: 03 December 2016 E-mail addresses: Political participation reflects the way [email protected] (Ahmad, N. S. Y.), [email protected] (Syed, M. D.), people with various attitudes utilise their [email protected] (Sani, M. A.) * Corresponding author opportunities. Civic involvement is indeed ISSN: 0128-7702 © Universiti Putra Malaysia Press Ahmad, N. S. Y., Syed, M. D. and Sani, M. A. necessary to reach the ‘expectation’ institutional political processes is relatively of democratic ideals. Among political low when compared to older citizens across activities which society is involved in are the globe. People under the age of 35 are the conventional, which is limited to vote rarely found in formal political leadership casting and political campaigning, and positions. This has led to discussion of the unconventional such as protests and political leadership in democratic Japan. women’s participation, and the recent civil Eligibility for service in Parliament starts at activities such as volunteering and social 25 years of age or older and it is common engagement. These forms of participation practice to refer to politicians as ‘young’ if are consistent with actual civic engagement they are below 35 to 40 years of age (UNDP, practices. 2013, p. 13). Youth are not represented According to the United Nations adequately in formal political institutions Development Programme (UNDP) (2013, and processes such as Parliament, political pp. 17–18) opportunities for youth to engage parties, elections and public administration. in governance and participate in political According to Takahashi and Hatano and decision-making processes depend (1999, p.225–230), Japanese youth largely on the political, socioeconomic and engagement has focused on three major cultural contexts where social norms in issues: feminist movement, community many parts of the world result in multiple service and environmental protection. The forms of discrimination against young movements are indirectly political matters. women. Since the Arab awakening, many The first began in the 1890s and involved youth in the region have remained politically protests against pollution from various active through “political movements” sources, including mining. The second, instead of engaging with political parties. antinuclear protests, began in 1954 and Young men and women are traditionally became one of the more active political active politically in universities (when movements in which youth participated. allowed) but very often disillusioned with Takahashi and Hatano added that those political leadership and political institutions involved in environmental protection and excluded from policy development. This generally are not directly political because has resulted in political activism of youth they focus primarily on consumer concerns not being organised according to formal such as food additives, natural food and groupings. organic farming methods. They note Furthermore, both formal and informal that at least some young people regard engagement can be understood as political environmental protection to be an economic participation, and both are beneficial for a and political issue. Takahashi and Hatano vivid and resilient democracy and should (1999, p.232) concluded that “a great be supported. There is strong evidence that majority of youth are indifferent to politics” the participation of young people in formal, and did not regard political parties as 124 Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 25 (S): 123 - 138 (2017) Proclivity of Political Participation representatives of their concerns. Their important alternative source of information argument has been supported by Hayes for audiences. (1995, p.144), who stated that “the great However, this paper also argues that majority of students are politically apathetic despite the fact that new media such as and do not participate actively in politics.” Facebook have a certain effect on the According to White (1994, p.11), youth formation of identity and the ideology of are defined by marital and employment status Malaysian youth, this technology is not a rather than by age, and such institutional determinant of the total. Traditional media, definitions have more weight than social and especially television, are still considered psychological identities. The regulatory and relevant and have an effect of its own. For protective functions of institutions such as example, the importance of television was family and school still dominate the lives of realised by opposition political parties, Japanese youth into their 20s. who use the Internet now as a platform for However, in Malaysia, media channels disseminating their political and ideological such as Facebook and the medium of agenda to avoid constraints placed on them television are popular among Malay youths, by the police and the government. One who make use of these outlets particularly example of is TV Selangor, an opposition for news content, entertainment and religious news channel available online. texts. Satellite television in particular plays The main discussion of this paper a very important role in assisting the focuses on the propensity or tendency development of ideology, including social, of young Japanese to avoid involvement political and cultural thought among youth. in political parties and how they react to At the same time, the government frequently political involvement, and includes a short makes television its primary medium in analysis of the role of Malaysian youth as a highlighting political agenda and social comparative study on political participation and cultural rights on an ongoing basis. of youth in both countries. However, the popularity of new media has led the government to believe the idea that LITERATURE REVIEW Malaysian youth today are not established Historical Experience or nurtured through any political statement in any traditional media like television and The historical period of Japanese newspapers. They believe that Malaysian development brought tremendous change youth today tend to see and believe what to the political system. Utter (2011, p.108– is disseminated through new media such as 109) found that Japan faced economic Facebook, Blog, YouTube, Twitter and so reversal in the 1990s as well as scandals on. At the same time, new media technology involving government officials, bankers and is considered popular and has become an industrialists. This brought a new paradigm to the Japanese economic sector, which Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 25 (S): 123 - 138 (2017) 125 Ahmad, N. S. Y., Syed, M. D. and Sani, M. A. experienced tremendous change. He added has been placed on party platforms and party that after Japan lost 3 million lives in World leaders, nationwide campaigns and more (but War II and suffered the atomic bombing of not completely) homogeneous parties and the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it weakened factions. Factions, especially in became a parliamentary democracy with a the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which largely symbolic hereditary monarch, the represents special interests, previously Emperor. played a dominant role in Japanese politics. After the death of Emperor Hirohito They added that the campaigns are more in 1989, the monarchy passed to his issue-orientated, with parties seeking to son, Akihito, who succeeded the throne. attract “the mythical median voter” rather Immediately after