Polling stations have been set up at 233 overseas locations, including embassies and consulates, to serve about 103,000 registered voters living abroad, according to the Japanese government, News.Az reports, citing Kyodo.
At the Embassy of Japan in Seoul, 28-year-old graduate student Naoya Maeda arrived as voting opened at 9:30 a.m. He said he hopes politicians will pay closer attention to everyday concerns, noting that “every time I make a trip back to Japan, I am hit by how expensive everything has become.”
Maeda added that living as a foreigner in South Korea had increased his interest in related policies, and he said he could not support political parties whose positions appeared exclusionary.
In Sydney, home to more than 30,000 Japanese nationals, 74-year-old Seiji Funamoto said issues involving foreigners were central to his vote, including policies on land ownership. Casting his ballot at the Japanese consulate, he said Japan should “respond firmly without backing down, even when pressured by other countries, including China.”
Within Japan, voters are also able to cast ballots in advance at designated polling stations if they are unable to vote on election day, February 8. During the previous lower house election in 2024, around 20.95 million people voted early.
This year’s vote comes amid concerns about turnout. The interval between the dissolution of the lower chamber and election day is the shortest in Japan’s postwar history, and heavy snowfall in some regions has disrupted preparations. In some municipalities, polling station tickets have not been delivered in time.
In response, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is urging election committees nationwide to widely inform voters that they can still cast ballots without a ticket, provided their identity can be verified at the polling station.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi dissolved the lower house on Friday, with official campaigning for the election beginning across Japan on Tuesday.
