The sixth oral argument took place on Thursday, December 5th at 11:00 a.m. in Courtroom 703 of the Tokyo District Court. Many people gathered in the 50-seat courtroom, making it a great success. Thank you very much for your ongoing support.

This time, both the plaintiff and the defendant submitted preparatory briefs. In response to the judge's request at the previous hearing, the plaintiff submitted Preparatory Brief No. 9, which summarized the plaintiffs' claims. Meanwhile, in Preparatory Brief 3 , the defendant made a general rebuttal to Preparatory Briefs No. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 submitted by the plaintiff at the previous hearing, arguing that the plaintiffs' claims are unlawful, that the matching of the voting age and the age of eligibility to be elected is not a constitutional requirement, that the setting of the voting age is an issue of the electoral system and the state has broad discretion, that the strict constitutionality judgment framework asserted by the plaintiffs is not applicable to this lawsuit, and that the current legal age is reasonable.

At the next hearing, the plaintiff side is scheduled to make a rebuttal to the defendant's preparatory brief (3). The plaintiff also wishes to move to witness testimony from the next hearing onwards, and is scheduled to submit a request for evidence and request witnesses.

The next, 7th hearing is scheduled to be held on Thursday, February 6, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. in Courtroom 703.

Please note that seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, so please arrive early. We look forward to your participation. Thank you for your continued support and interest in this matter.

"Women are inferior to men in intelligence and physical strength," "Women lack imagination and initiative," "Women lack independence and firm thinking." These were some of the reasons given in opposition to women's suffrage before the war.

Article 44 of the Japanese Constitution was born out of reflection on these prewar restrictions on suffrage. It states, "The qualifications of members of both Houses and their electors shall be determined by law. However, there shall be no discrimination on the grounds of race, creed, sex, social status, family origin, education, property or income," and calls for thorough equality in suffrage.

Under Article 44 of the Constitution, unreasonable age discrimination in candidacy should not be permitted. The government says that young people under the age of 25 or 30 will not be allowed to run for office because they "lack discretion and social experience." However, until now there has been no rational explanation to justify drawing the line at this age. We see the exact same structure here as the irrational reasons given for denying women the right to vote. The issue of the age at which people can run for office can be said to be a modern-day discrimination in suffrage, and an issue of "discrimination against young people."

Until now, there had been no trial in Japan on the issue of discrimination against young people, but at the hearing held on June 13th, we tackled this issue head-on. Based on the research on "Children's Law" by legal sociologist Professor Saito Chuji of the University of Tokyo, we argued that discrimination against young people in terms of voting rights is a violation of the principle of equality prohibited by Article 44 of the Constitution. The plaintiff's previous arguments can be found in the "Law Materials" tab on this page , and the details of this argument can be found here .

On the day of the trial, many spectators and media gathered, creating a very lively atmosphere. Many young people, including junior and senior high school students, filled the courtroom. Among them was Sophie Handford, New Zealand's youngest person to be elected as a local councillor at the age of 18.

Plaintiffs, lawyers, and youth members entering the Tokyo District Court

After the trial ended, we moved outside and gave an explanation of the trial. Since it was right after the trial, there were a lot of questions and impressions of what had happened.

▲The open-air class held outside the courthouse attracted media attention.

We will promote this historic movement by mobilizing the wisdom of our predecessors and legal theories to weave words that will serve as a weapon for lowering the age to run for office.

The next hearing is scheduled to take place on Thursday, September 12th at 2pm in Courtroom 703 of the Tokyo District Court. We hope you will continue to pay close attention to the trial and legal reforms.

The first oral argument was held at 11:00 a.m. today (October 12, 2023) in Courtroom 703 of the Tokyo District Court.

The plaintiffs filed a complaint, and the state filed an answer. The state's answer is before the merits of the case (as a premise for discussing whether the 25 and 30 age provisions are contrary to the Constitution, it is an argument that the plaintiff's complaint does not meet the procedural requirements for proceeding with the trial in the first place) ).

The court instructed the government to submit its argument on the merits (the country's argument that the provision does not violate the Constitution) by December 8.

In front of a full audience, plaintiff Momoko Nojo , plaintiff Chico. , and attorney Toda made statements to the judge.

The next hearing will be held on December 25th at 2:00 pm in Courtroom No. 703. I hope you will be able to listen next time.

We filed the case on July 10, 2023 at Tokyo District Court.

The complaint is available here. See also a summary version of the complaint which summarises the main points.

Among the evidence submitted at the time of filing the complaint, the Statement of Evidence, A7 Investigation Report (Status of discussions in the Diet and political parties), A8 Written Statement (Momoko Nojo), A9 Written Statement (Kaito Yoshizumi), A10 (Ryoka Nakamura), A11 (Chico.), A12 (Ryo Kubo), A13 (Ryoka Nakamura) are also been uploaded.

At the same time as the lawsuit was filed, we opened this crowdfunding page to the public, and the number of supporters exceeded 100 in the first five days after it was opened. We would like to thank everyone for your support.

Numbers of the press attended the press conference after the lawsuit was filed, where we explained the purpose and significance of this lawsuit and the thoughts of each of the plaintiffs.

On the same day, from 19:00, an "Exciting Rally" was held at SHIBAURA HOUSE in Minato Ward, Tokyo, to report on the lawsuit.

Participants applied in advance via SNS, etc., and lots of people (24 people) attended the event. After an explanation of the lawsuit by the attorneys, the plaintiffs each made a declaration of their commitment to the lawsuit. In the workshop that followed, the plaintiffs and participants formed groups and discussed the drafting of a manifesto from the perspective of young people and how election campaigning should be conducted.

▲Plaintiffs expressing their opinions.

▲Group discussion at the workshop

▲A poster resembling an election poster was displayed with the cooperation of a designer.

▲Uchiwa (Japanese fans) were also prepared by the designer.

Thank you very much for your participation!

We would announce here about the court hearing date when we received the schedule from the court.

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