Opinion surveys indicate that the ruling coalition may not secure a majority in Japan’s extremely close legislative election, so candidates will make desperate pleas to voters on Saturday.
According to experts, such a result would be the worst for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2009 and would deal Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba a fatal blow.
Only last month did Ishiba, who enjoys trains, 1970s pop stars, and building model ships and aeroplanes, take over as leader of the LDP, which has controlled Japan for nearly the whole of the previous 70 years.
On October 1, the 67-year-old was appointed premier following a fierce internal competition.
Days later, he called snap elections for October 27, promising a “new Japan”.
Ishiba pledged to revitalise depressed rural regions and to address the “quiet emergency” of Japan’s falling population by supporting families with policies like flexible working hours.
But he has since rowed back his position on issues including allowing married couples to take separate surnames.
He also named only two women ministers in his cabinet.
The LDP and its coalition partner Komeito may find it difficult to get the 233 lower house seats required for a majority, according to a new survey released Friday by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.
Ishiba has made this threshold his goal, and failing to meet it would hurt his standing in the LDP and force him to look for other coalition partners or take charge of a minority government.
Candidates from the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), the second-largest party in parliament, led by well-liked former prime minister Yoshihiko Noda, are vying with those of the LDP in numerous districts.
Noda’s stance “is sort of similar to the LDP’s. He is basically a conservative,” Masato Kamikubo, a political scientist at Ritsumeikan University, told AFP.
“The CDP or Noda can be an alternative to the LDP. Many voters think so,” Kamikubo said.
