The Diet enacted legislation Wednesday to lower the voting age to 18 from 20 — the biggest reform of the nation's electoral laws in 70 years — in an attempt at encouraging younger voters to be more politically active.
The bill to revise the Public Offices Election Law passed the Upper House unanimously after winning approval in the Lower House on June 4. The voting age was last changed in 1945, when it was lowered to 20 from 25.
The change is almost certain to apply to an Upper House election scheduled for summer 2016, unless the more powerful Lower House is dissolved first for a snap election. Some 2.4 million people aged 18 and 19 will join the electorate.