Japan Decides 2021

1. Introduction.- 2. Japanese Politics 2017 to 2021.- 3. The 2021 Election Results: Continuity and Change.- 4. How the Liberal Democratic Party Avoided a Loss in 2021.- 5. The Opposition in 2021: A Second Party and a Third Force.- 6. K meit in 2021: Strategizing between the LDP and S ka Gakkai.- 7. Abe's legacy.- 8. Candidate Selection for the 2021 General Election.- 9. Generational Change or Continuity in Japan's Leadership?.- 10. Should I Stay or Should I Go? Party Switching in Japan.- 11. Ministerial Selection under Abe, Suga, and Kishida.- 12. Public opinion and COVID-19.- 13. Social media in the 2021 Election Campaign.- 14. Are the Kids Alright? Young People and Turnout in Japan.- 15. Did COVID-19 Impact Japan's 2021 General Election?.- 16. Japan's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.- 17. Economic Policy Trilemma: Macroeconomic Politics in the 2021 Election.- 18. Does Income Inequality Matter in Japan?.- 19. Women's representation and the gendered impact of COVID-19 in Japan.-20. Black Lives Matter in Japan: The Specter of Race and Racism Haunting Japan.- 21. Constitutional Revision in the 2021 Election.- 22. Covid-19: The International Dimension.- 23. Foreign Policy and Defense Issues in Japan's 2021 Election.- 24. China in Japan's 2021 Elections.- 25. The Olympics in the 2021 Election.- 26. Conclusion: The 2021 Japanese Election in the Shadow of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Robert J. Pekkanen is Professor in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies, Adjunct Professor of Political Science, and Adjunct Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington, USA.

Steven R. Reed is Professor Emeritus, retired from Chuo University, Japan.

Daniel M. Smith is the Gerald L. Curtis Visiting Associate Professor of Modern Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy in the Department of Political Science and School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, USA.