THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
October 7, 2021 at 16:16 JST
Voters in Shizuoka Prefecture listen to a candidate speak on Oct. 7, when campaigning officially began in two Upper House by-elections. (Shiro Nishihata)
Campaigning officially started on Oct. 7 for two Upper House by-elections that will serve as early tests for new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Kishida’s bigger test will be the Lower House election expected at the end of this month. The results of the Oct. 24 by-elections in Shizuoka and Yamaguchi prefectures could be precursors to the national poll.
The by-elections were made necessary by the resignations of ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers to run in other races.
Kishida, who took office earlier this week, has indicated that he intends to dissolve the Lower House on Oct. 14 and hold a snap election on Oct. 31.
He was in Shizuoka on Oct. 7 to speak on behalf of the LDP candidate, Yohei Wakabayashi, 49, a former Gotenba mayor.
The limited time before the expected Lower House election could hurt the opposition parties’ plan to cooperate and rally around one candidate for the single-seat districts.
Such cooperation did not emerge in the two by-elections.
The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan was unable to field candidates in both prefectures. So it will support Shinnosuke Yamazaki, the candidate in the Shizuoka election backed by the Democratic Party for the People.
The Japanese Communist Party has also fielded a candidate, Chika Suzuki, in the Shizuoka by-election.
The Yamaguchi by-election was made necessary because Yoshimasa Hayashi resigned to run in the Lower House election.
The candidates in Yamaguchi are the LDP-endorsed Tsuneo Kitamura, the JCP-endorsed Kiyo Kawai, and Shota Harada, who is backed by the party that was set up to “protect the public” from Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK).
Yamaguchi Prefecture has long been an LDP stronghold. The four Lower House seats there are monopolized by the LDP, including those held by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi.
Kishida’s lofty economic plans lacking one thing: Details
October 5, 2021
LDP dynasties back in spotlight as Kishida takes the reins
October 4, 2021
Fumio Kishida elected by Diet as Japan’s new prime minister
October 4, 2021
Sources: Kishida to move up Lower House election to Oct. 31
October 4, 2021
With Cabinet lineup, Kishida hopes to present a ‘fresh’ image
October 4, 2021
Edano vows to expand child support, make school meals free
October 4, 2021
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
