I voted!

Today was my first time to vote in Japan!  As with all these milestones in my life here, I keep feeling like there should be more to it.  Confetti?  Little trumpets?  A tiara or something??  Even one of those little "I voted today" stickers we used to get back in the old country would be appreciated.


The weather was sunny and warm, perfect for getting people out to vote.  I heard that only half (or maybe even less) of eligible Japanese actually vote, so I was expecting the place to be empty.  I was pleasantly surprised to find other people there!  And they weren't all old folks either.  There were alot of young-ish people there too (like, young couples with a small child).  We broke up into lines according to our addresses, so there wasn't much of a wait.


Today's vote was for Osaka prefectural assembly members and the governor.  Each race was separate from the other, so there wouldn't be any mistakes.  We don't have voting machines (so no election tampering, ha!).  There's a list of people running and their party.  You write the name of your choice, then stick the paper in a locked box.  Repeat for the other race.  Done.  I don't think it took even five minutes. 


I was feeling super proud of myself....but no confetti.  Maybe I should bring my own next time? 

Obligatory photo of cherry blossoms

Now, I hope you don't mind if I get a little political rant out of my system.  The Osaka governor/mayoral race was NOT supposed to be today.  It was supposed to be in November, the same as in other areas of Japan.  BUT, the governor of the prefecture and mayor of Osaka city are of the same political party Osaka Isshin no Kai (Osaka Restoration Association).  They seem to have only one part platform - to integrate Osaka city and Osaka prefecture.  Thus, their party's nickname "One Osaka".  They keep pushing for this, but nobody wants it.  There was even a vote once, and it got voted DOWN.  But this doesn't stop them.  These two guys QUIT their respective positions and are running for the other's job...hoping that wins for both of them will regain some momentum for their "one Osaka" position. 

These are my problems with One Osaka.

1. As I said above, NOBODY WANTS IT!  I doubt there would be any substantial financial savings.  Honestly, it's mostly about "proving" that Osaka is just as good as Tokyo (Tokyo city and prefecture are merged).  Hey, we don't need a merger.  Osaka is awesome as it is!
2. The founder of this party (Toru Hashimoto) is a total @$$xxxx.  Fill in the blanks there.  Even though he quit (for now), I'm sure if the merger started gaining support, he'll be back. 
3. Just in regards to today's governor/mayor race...  They decided to do this maybe a month before the election.  This didn't give any opposition parties much time to decide on candidates.  I don't know about mayor, but there was only one other choice for governor (running as an independent).  Maybe within the official rules, but not totally fair.
4. In addition to their one note-one Osaka platform, these guys are drooling over the possibility of a big casino resort complex being built here.  These things NEVER bring the benefits they're "supposed" to.  The government will spend tax payers money to support the project, but the only benefits will go to a few at the top.  Yet, Osaka prefecture's junior high schools don't have school lunch!  Let's make sure our kids are taken care of before building any casinos, guys!!