For high school student Aine Suzuki, the Lower House's move on Thursday to pass legislation that would reduce the voting age to 18 from the current 20 was akin to a dream come true.
The 16-year-old says she has always yearned for the right to vote — so much so that whenever an election is approaching she scours newspapers and TV shows to decide which candidate she would vote for, were she eligible to do so.
In only two years — Suzuki said with excitement — her opinion will count at the ballot box.