Interest

Oreimo's Kirino Drums Up Voters for Japan Election

Last year the voting age in Japanese elections was lowered from 20 to 18. To help get out the word and combat widespread voter apathy among the young, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has launched a campaign called "18-sai Senkyo" (The 18-Year-Old Election) to drum up voter turnout among 18- and 19-year-olds for this summer's Upper House elections. Naturally, this involves courting the anime fandom.

Kirino, the star of the light novel/manga/anime series Oreimo, has been recruited by the Ministry to spread the word in the 18-sai Senkyo campaign, since she has just turned 18. A pamphlet titled Ore no Imōto ga 18-sai Campaign Model ni Naru Wake ga Nai ~ Kōsaka Kirino no Manabu 18-sai Senkyo~ ("My Little Sister Can't Be an 18-Year-Old Campaign Model ~Kirino Kōsaka Studies the 18-Year-Old Election~") will be distributed at the Dengeki Bunko Spring Festival 2016 on March 13 in Akihabara, Tokyo, for free. It is written by Tsukasa Fushimi and illustrated by Hiro Kanzaki, who wrote and illustrated the light novels. The pamphlet will explain how to vote for first-timers.

Kirino and her friend, Kuroneko, had earlier been seeking opportunities to be PR models, so it seems their efforts have paid off. While it is rare for anime or manga characters to get involved in politics, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has published a manga promoting its constitutional changes and Golgo 13 has helped recruitment for the Japanese army.

[Via Kai-You]