The introduction of universal suffrage for the 1928 general election in Japan increased the size of the electorate for the Lower house elections from 3 to 12 millions.
This article analyzes voters' political attitudes towards the 1928 election, with a special focus on newly eligible voters. Because of the low turnout at local elections held nationwide by the universal suffrage in the previous year, Japanese government was concerned with the apparent apathy of the new voters, which led to the development of educational campaigns designed to improve their political awareness. The various devices adopted by both the central and local governments to prevent abstentions and election offenses such as vote buying included posters, leaflets, pamphlets, matchbox, movie trailers.
This article looks at these materials and examines the voter apathy that became the target of these government-led political campaigns.