Ryutaro Sato won’t be going to the polls on Sunday when Japan holds a general election. In fact, he’s never cast a ballot since reaching voting age five years ago.
“It seems pointless,” says the 25-year-old office worker based in Tokyo’s neighboring Kanagawa Prefecture.
“The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will probably win anyway, since there aren’t any strong opposition parties,” Sato says. “It seems as if it has always been like that. What’s more, I don’t feel that the policies being put forward are going to impact me in any significant way.”