actually, no. young urbanites don t vote and don t know who to vote for, but even if they did, their vote would count a lot less than if they lived in the countryside. today, the vast majority of japanese voters live in big cities like this one, but the voting districts have not been modernised to reflect this huge shift of population from the rural to the urban. and in very simplistic terms, that means today, you need a lot more votes to get elected in an urban constituency than in a rural one. all of this is a good news for the prime minister who can rely on mps from rural strongholds to keep him in power. rupert wingfield hayes, bbc news, tokyo. now, it s time to have our monthly catch up with what happening in coventry, uk city of culture, which is hosting a year long festival of events. today we are looking at seaview
potential voters, because door to door campaigning in japan is not allowed, and that gives the incumbent party a tremendous advantage because their leaders are on the television news every night. we asked some young voters if they recognise the leader of japan s biggest opposition party. 0nce or twice, i know his face, but i don t remember his name. are you interested in the election? are you going to bother voting7 actually, no. young urbanites don t vote and don t know who to vote for, but even if they did, their vote would count a lot less than if they lived in the countryside. today, the vast majority of japanese voters live in big cities like this one, but the voting districts have not been modernised to reflect this huge shift of population from the rural to the urban. and in very simplistic terms, that means today, you need a lot more votes to get elected in an urban constituency than in a rural one. all of this is a good news
opposition parties injapan. it s one reason they do so badly. this is one of the very few ways that opposition parties injapan have of getting their message out to potential voters, because door to door campaigning in japan is not allowed, and that gives the incumbent party a tremendous advantage because their leaders are on the television news every night. we asked some young voters if they recognise the leader of japan s biggest opposition party. 0nce or twice, i know his face, but i don t remember his name. are you interested in the election? are you going to bother voting7 actually, no. young urbanites don t vote and don t know who to vote for, but even if they did, their vote would count a lot less than if they lived in the countryside. today, the vast majority of japanese voters live in big cities like this one, but the voting
it s one reason they do so badly. this is one of the very few ways that opposition parties injapan have of getting their message out to potential voters, because door to door campaigning in japan is not allowed, and that gives the incumbent party a tremendous advantage because their leaders are on the television news every night. we asked some young voters if they recognise the leader of japan s biggest opposition party. 0nce or twice, i know his face, but i don t remember his name. are you interested in the election? are you going to bother voting? actually, no. young urbanites don t vote and don t know who to vote for, but even if they did, their vote would count a lot less than if they lived in the countryside. today, the vast majority of japanese voters live in big cities like this one, but the voting districts have not been modernised to reflect this huge shift of population from the rural to the urban.
i know his face, but i don t remember his name. are you interested in the election? are you going to bother voting7 actually, no. young urbanites don t vote and don t know who to vote for, but even if they did, their vote would count a lot less than if they lived in the countryside. today, the vast majority of japanese voters live in big cities like this one, but the voting districts have not been modernised to reflect this huge shift of population from the rural to the urban. and in very simplistic terms, that means today, you need a lot more votes to get elected in an urban constituency than in a rural one. all of this is a good news for the prime minister who can rely on mps from rural strongholds to keep him in power. rupert wingfield hayes, bbc news, tokyo.