In Heisei angekommen – eine Rezension zu Local political participation in Japan: A case study of Oita (Routledge, 2019)

Abstract

This review discusses Local political participation in Japan: A case study of Oita (Dani Daigle Kida 2019). It highlights its strengths (1) of using qualitative and quantitative methods to draw a full picture of local political participation and (2) of focusing on local level politics that has not received much attention of participation research in mainstream political science hitherto. By conducting fieldwork in Ōita, Kida provides insight into how ‘traditional’ ways of political participation continue to exist until today, where party alignments have been eroding and discourses of citizen engagement have been discussed in society, media and academia of the Heisei-era. The review concludes with a short remark on how a conception of political participation that includes political practices outside the ‘political realm’ could have shed light on various activities taking place in rural and local spaces that while adapting to societal changes, challenge local society and politics in various ways.