Casting a Vote

Hello, everyone!

I'm feeling that I'm still on vacation even though the new semester has just started, because classes hasn't begun yet actually. However, I've already got the syllabus of the classes in this semester. So I'm now planning to make a time table which adjusts to my daily schedule outside the campus. Well, compared to the last year, it's so much more enjoyable for me to make it because I can choose almost whatever I want to take as long as I have time to do so. But the more choices I have the more complicated it becomes... Anyway, that's how it goes in terms of new semester! I'll handle it. ^^

What I want to talk about today is that I'm now given the right to vote! It's kind of sad to face the fact that I'm now 20 years old(!), but I'm glad to be able to vote because it makes me feel that I'm a part of the society I've belonged to.

The election was conducted to choose a governor of Tokyo. Choosing the person means a lot not only to the city itself, but also to the country because Tokyo is regarded as some kind of a country. The concentration of the capital town's power is so hard to break up that the things done by Tokyo have a big influence on the administrations of the other parts of Japan.

We, the Japanese, are now making a transformation to make what candidates think and want to do more understandable by making a manifesto. However, I think we've got long way to go because the law of how elections should be done is not ready to make specific rules for now. Even if the candidates can make one, the number of copies they can distribute to voter is limited. I've seen some candidates go online, and they posted their manifests on their websites, but it's still uncertain that they're read by everyone who has a right to vote.

I guess the fact that candidates have started making their own manifestos is a good sign because they now feel that what she/he is going to do if elected needs to be addressed to make voters understand who she/he is, and doing that leads to votes. It's just started to occur, so some candidates misunderstood how it should be written and ended up criticizing other candidates. I think it's ridiculous to write a manifesto as a way to offense instead of addressing what she/he will do, but there's lessons to be learned before it works out well.

As the number of the people who don't have any particular party to vote suggests, the disconnection between politics and real life has gotten worse. Many people say that voting can't change the present situation, and they don't even go to vote. But I still think that voting is one of the important roles as a citizen, and it has a power to send a message. Also, people don't realize how the government has protected their rights and given opportunities until it's out of their hands. There's a possibility that what they've taken for granted will be suddenly gone if you don't show your opinion by voting.

Well, I hope you understand how excited I'd been to be able to cast a vote!
That's all for today!

Take care.