By Antonio Hermosin for EFE

Armed with reggae, manga and the internet, Japan’s political parties are going all out to woo its young voters for Sunday’s elections when for the first time voting will be opened to 18-year-olds.

Sunday’s Upper House elections are the first national elections where the voting age has been reduced from 20 to 18, marking the greatest reform of the Japanese electoral system since 1945, and that puts it at par with most other democratic countries.

But the change has also posed a challenge in Japan’s sedate political landscape dominated by senior lawmakers and pushed parties to find innovate ways to attract the 2.4 million young first time voters.

Yohei Miyake, a musician and politician told EFE he has drawn up an anti-nuclear, anti-war agenda with a social message comprising Bob Marley’s lyrics to reach out to the young voters.

Miyake stands out from among the other candidates not just because of his long hair, beard, hat, t-shirt and jeans, but also for his unique campaigning style that include concert-rallies where he speaks to the rhythm of reggae, rap, or jazz, accompanied by a DJ or a live band.

“I’m 19 years old and I don’t know too much of the government or politics. But Miyake speaks in a manner that is direct and easy to understand and so I am going to support him,” Suzuka Shimamura, a student set to vote for the first time, told EFE.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe‘s conservative Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, for e.g., has distributed voter information in the format of a comic titled ‘Kuni ni Todoke’, (Coming to the nation), inspired by the popular series for female teenagers ‘Kimi ni Todoke’ (Coming to you).

The LDP refused to comment to EFE regarding the initiative, after being criticized on social media by people who considered the content of the comic sexist and superficial.

At the other end of the ideological spectrum, the Japanese Communist Party has resorted to role-playing games with cards, also popular among Japanese youth, with their website presenting candidates and their main agenda on Pokemon-inspired cards, urging them to participate in a game to know more.

Other opposition parties are also using the aesthetics of manga and mascots, a common resource in a country where the police, local governments and railway companies have their own characters – some of them very popular – to cosy up to the young voters.

The participation of the young voters could be a key factor in the Japanese Senate elections, although, according to a survey conducted by the Asian economic daily Nikkei, it will be below 40 percent as opposed to the regular electorate comprising 20 years and above, which is 67 percent.

Meanwhile, about 50 percent of voters aged 18 and 19 are expected to vote for Abe’s party, according to several surveys published this week by the Japanese media. EFE