{"id":5912,"date":"2025-12-19T23:00:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T23:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/japan\/?p=5912"},"modified":"2026-01-27T00:00:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T00:00:04","slug":"decoding-elections-robert-pekkanen-and-japan-decides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/japan\/news\/decoding-elections-robert-pekkanen-and-japan-decides\/","title":{"rendered":"Decoding elections: Robert Pekkanen and \u201cJapan Decides\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japan\u2019s 2024 general election for the House of Representatives marked a turning point. The long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suffered its second-worst showing since 1955, while the far-right populist party Sanseito entered the lower house for the first time, signaling potential shifts in governance with global implications.<\/p>\n

The fifth volume of \u201cJapan Decides<\/a>,\u201d co-edited by Jackson School Professor\u00a0Robert Pekkanen<\/a>, offers a comprehensive scholarly account of this election. Pekkanen co-created the series nearly two decades ago to provide English-language analysis of Japanese elections after historic elections in 2005 and 2009. \u201cI couldn\u2019t really find anything in English to communicate to the students the drama and high stakes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The latest volume guides readers from context to consequence. It examines major political parties, campaign strategies, candidate platforms, social media, and voter turnout; it also explores the election\u2019s defining policy issues, including the Unification Church, financial scandals, women\u2019s representation, LGBTQ+ rights, childcare, inflation, and Japan\u2019s role in the global economy.<\/p>\n

Producing the book required careful timing. Japan\u2019s parliamentary system requires an election be held within four years, meaning they can happen at any point in that period. For Pekkanen and the other co-editors, this presented the obstacle of when to start work on the fifth volume.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time that it looked like there might be a snap election, the co-editors exchanged nervous emails and hastily took the pulse of Japanese politics to see if an election was indeed imminent,\u201d Pekkanen said. \u201cFinally, we decided that we should move forward with the invitations to authors. We want to do this early enough to get the best authors and let them do their best research, but late enough that we can select the most timely and relevant topics for the chapters.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Pekkanen, the \u201cJapan Decides\u201d series represents more than academic work \u2014 it is a way to engage with the excitement and significance of Japanese elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love Japanese elections,\u201d he said, referring to his \u201cJapan Decides\u201d colleagues. \u201cThey are so exciting to observe, and obviously consequential for the lives of Japanese people, as well as many around the globe. We love being able to increase the knowledge that exists in the world about these events. I learn a huge amount from every volume, and without these projects I definitely would not understand as much about Japanese politics as I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, after months of coordination, research, and editing, Pekkanen admits there is one secret wish the co-editors share: \u201c[We] all secretly hope that there won\u2019t be another election for a while so that we can rest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Learn more about studying Japan in our new\u00a0M.A. in East Asian Studies<\/a>. The M.A. program will offer students the opportunity to develop a substantial understanding of culture, history, society, and contemporary issues across China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Applications for the 2026-2027 academic year are due Jan. 31, 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Japan\u2019s 2024 general election for the House of Representatives marked a turning point. The long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suffered its second-worst showing since 1955, while the far-right populist party Sanseito entered the lower house for the first time, signaling potential shifts in governance with global implications. The fifth volume of \u201cJapan Decides,\u201d co-edited by<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":710,"featured_media":2041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9,10],"tags":[170,26],"class_list":["post-5912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty","category-news","category-research","tag-japan-decides","tag-robert-pekkanen","region-east-asia","region-japan"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDecoding elections: Robert Pekkanen and \u201cJapan Decides\u201d - UW Center for Japanese Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jsis.washington.edu\/japan\/news\/decoding-elections-robert-pekkanen-and-japan-decides\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Decoding elections: Robert Pekkanen and \u201cJapan Decides\u201d - UW Center for Japanese Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Japan\u2019s 2024 general election for the House of Representatives marked a turning point. The long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suffered its second-worst showing since 1955, while the far-right populist party Sanseito entered the lower house for the first time, signaling potential shifts in governance with global implications. 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