Japan heads to the polls for the House of Councillor Elections on 20 July 2025. While Japan’s electoral laws are generally regarded as fair and well enforced, there are electoral issues that need to be addressed including low voter turnout, gender gap and representation, increasing public distrust on the government and overall dissatisfaction with the state of democracy.

“The Election Observer” podcast will discuss electoral issues in Japan and the overall state of democracy in the country.

Prof Hiroaki SHIGA of Yokohama National University and Prof. Tsai Hsi-Hsun of Tamkang University are joining us in this episode.

Catch the new episode live on 16 July 2025 at 2 p.m. Bangkok time. “The Election Observer” podcast streams live via ANFREL’s Facebook and LinkedIn Pages and Youtube channel. It will later stream via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.