ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the local dimension to Japanese politics, which includes not only the local assemblies at the city and prefectural levels but also citizen movements that organize around issues that touch upon their immediate environment. What strategies do these groups utilize to allow their voices to carry to national levels? How successful are they? One important trend has seen the rise of women in positions of local politics. Though numbers of women in Japanese politics have not reached the levels that other countries have enjoyed, the advances to date have resulted in more life-centered issues such as the environment, food quality, and public welfare matters gaining more attention. The referendum has become an increasingly important political tool to amplify the voice of the local. While often ignored, the results have on occasion succeeded in halting controversial construction projects, such as nuclear reactors and damns.
