The 59 percent turnout shows that at least 20 percent of voters had consciously "voted with their feet". The essential feature of Japan's election is still Abe's war for power.

The curtains closed on Japan's 47th upper house election at 8 pm on Dec. 14. The Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito Party have a very big chance of taking more than two thirds of the seats. If the Liberal Democratic Party takes 300 seats, Abe will win another term of office.

However, the low voter turnout says a great deal about Abe's promising success. By 2 pm on election day, only 23 percent of the electorate had voted. No one showed up early to queue for their vote. By 7 pm, overall voter turnout was only 59 percent, which means 2 out of 5 voters did not vote. 59 percent is the lowest turnout in Japan since WWII.

How to explain the fact that so many people did not vote? A 100 percent voter turnout is impossible due to technical and personal issues. However, these minor factors would never cut the vote by so much as 10 percent. The 59 percent turnout shows that at least 20 percent of voters had consciously "voted with their feet" to silently boycott Abe's action of dissolving parliament and bringing on an early election.

That voters are losing faith in Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, while they still have no confidence in its opponents, might be the most accurate explanation for this phenomenon.

Abe's early election this year was in fact a referendum on "Abenomics". Japan's GDP shrunk in the third quarter by 0.4 percent - 1.6 percent annualized - meaning that it had fallen for two quarters in a row. Facing these pessimistic numbers, Abe’s strategy of bringing up an early election seemed rather imprudent.

The essence of the early election remains Abe's war for power. By having an early election, Abe hoped to expand his strength in parliament, and secure an advantageous position in the election of his own Party. As long as there are no unforeseen setbacks in the 2016 senate election, Abe can now plan to govern all the way to the year 2018. With the failure of his Abenomics, Abe is turning ever more to ring-wing historical revisionism. The question now is whether Abe will become the man who put an end to Japan's "pacifist constitution". 

This article is edited and translated from 《选民用脚投票安倍赢了又如何》，source: Beijing News, author: He Jingyun