Abstract
Against the background of descriptions that conservative-progressive ideology is no longer relevant to contemporary Japanese politics, this study reports a notable generational difference in ideology. Classifying the sample according to age, I examine (a) voters' self-location on the ideological scale, (b) the consistency between voter attitudes toward different issues, and (c) the correlation between voters' ideological self-location and the ideological position of the party they support or voted for. Analyzing data from the 2013 JIGS Voter survey, 2010 JES IV survey, and 1983 JES survey, I find that younger cohorts are characterized by (1) lower awareness of ideology, with those who are cognizant more inclined to locate themselves on the progressive side; (2) lower consistency between attitudes toward different issues; (3) lower correlation between ideological self-location and the ideological position of their preferred party.
