"I Did Not Have the Right to Vote": Scenes I Witnessed at the Polling Station
Let's go vote. Just cast your ballot, no matter what.
I write this story on social media every time there is an election, so many of you may have seen it before. But I will tell it again and again.
Some time ago, I worked a part-time job handing out ballots at a polling station.
That was over a decade ago.
It was the height of midsummer, a sweltering day when you would hesitate to even step outside.
In that heat, several elderly women came, some in wheelchairs, others walking with extremely slow steps while being led by young people who appeared to be their grandchildren.
They were all people who looked to be well over 90 years old.
With trembling hands, they gripped their pencils and slowly wrote the names of the candidates.
I did not understand why they would go to such lengths to come to the polling station.
One of them said to the young woman who appeared to be her grandchild,
"When I was young, I did not have the right to vote."
When I wondered why, an election administration committee member explained it to me.
"Women gained the right to vote after the war. That is why those women will come even if they have to crawl."
Women gained the right to vote in 1946.
Until then, they could not even run for office, let alone vote.
Not having the right to vote is the same as not having human rights.
Even while living in Japan, they were treated as if they did not exist.
Before that, there was even a time when adult men could not vote unless they had a certain level of income. In other words, the poor and women were not considered people.
I want you to imagine how much blood, sweat, and tears were shed to gain that right.
I want you to imagine how much resistance there was.
Japan is a good country, a safe country. It does not need to change as it is.
Please do not forget that such a safe and secure country was built on the 'power to resist' of many people. I hope you will not let go of the right to vote that was won for you, and that you will exercise it.