On Sept. 18, people all over the world, holding their breath, were glued to reports of the referendum on whether Scotland would become independent of the United Kingdom.
About 55 percent of the participants in the referendum, which saw a voter turnout of some 84 percent, voted No to independence and won the final decision, while Scots who wanted independence succeeded in getting an official promise of more devolution from U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron.
The referendum brought a considerable sense of political achievement to the local population without the shedding of blood. For those Japanese who grumble about low voter turnouts in local and national elections, or who complain about the secretive character of political procedures — such as a plan to build a large road in a wooden area of Kodaira, Tokyo, leading citizens to successfully force their local administration to hold a referendum in May 2013 — the open, democratic process of the Scottish referendum was remarkable and somehow an object of envy.