Six years after a system was introduced to allow Japanese living overseas to cast ballots in national elections in Japan, their voter turnout remains extremely low.

Of the estimated 683,000 Japanese eligible to vote who live overseas, only 88,085 registered as voters in the July 11 House of Councilors election, and a mere 25.41 percent of them -- 20,551 -- actually cast their votes. The figure represented just 3 percent of the eligible voters.

The unsuccessful attempt by a Japanese resident in Paraguay to win a Diet seat in the election appears to highlight the problems in the system that critics say discourage people from voting.