Japanese vote in person in Taiwan for first time

Japanese nationals living in Taiwan were able to cast early votes in Japan’s House of Councilors election at a polling station in Taipei yesterday, the first time they have ever been able to cast a vote in a Japanese election in person in Taiwan.

The Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association is hosting early voting at its Taipei office — Japan’s de facto embassy in Taiwan — and at a branch office in Kaohsiung through July 14, with the full election scheduled to take place in Japan on July 20.

Previously, Japanese nationals in Taiwan could only vote by applying for ballots in advance and sending them by mail to Japan, or by traveling to Japan to cast their ballots in person.

Photo:CNA

Voting is a fundamental right for Japanese overseas, said Yo Takaba, a deputy Japanese representative to Taiwan, adding that setting up polling stations locally was a meaningful way of expanding access to democratic participation.

The association said that there had long been calls to set up overseas polling stations in Taiwan and that the decision was made following consultations with the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

There are about 16,000 eligible Japanese voters living in Taiwan, the association said.

To be able to participate, eligible voters aged 18 or older must first register with the Japanese government to vote from abroad. Once registered, they are given a voter card that they have to show along with a photo ID at the polling stations in Taiwan to vote.

Masayuki Yamamoto, who has been working in Taiwan for two years, said he cast his vote outside of Japan for the first time yesterday, with the hope that Japan would become a better country.

Yamamoto described the process as more convenient than the traditional mail-in method and in-person voting in Japan, even though additional paperwork was required to prevent identity fraud.

Unlike Taiwan’s use of stamps to indicate a vote, Japan uses handwritten ballots, where voters write the names of their preferred candidates and political parties, and hand their ballots in sealed envelopes to polling staff.