Photo/Illutration Voters listen to the speech of a candidate running in a Lower House by-election in the Chiba No. 5 district on April 11, the first day of campaigning. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is fighting neck and neck against opposition party candidates in three by-elections for Diet seats, according to an Asahi Shimbun survey.

Four Lower House by-elections and an Upper House by-election in Oita Prefecture will be held on April 23.

The telephone survey was conducted April 14-15. Information gathered by Asahi Shimbun reporters was factored in to gauge the prospects in each constituency.

The situations could change because 40 to 50 percent of voters were undecided at the time of the survey.

The battle in Oita Prefecture is a tight one-on-one race between Aki Shirasaka, 56, of the LDP, and Tadatomo Yoshida, 67, of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Shirasaka is backed by 80 percent of LDP supporters and nearly 40 percent of unaffiliated voters. Yoshida has secured support from almost all CDP supporters and 60 percent of unaffiliated voters.

In the Chiba No. 5 district of the Lower House, the CDP’s Kentaro Yazaki, 55, and the LDP’s Arfiya Eri, 34, are locked in a similarly close contest.

Yazaki has garnered support from almost all CDP supporters and nearly 40 percent of unaffiliated voters. Eri is backed by more than 70 percent of LDP supporters and 20 percent of unaffiliated voters, according to the survey.

In the Wakayama No. 1 district of the Lower House, Yumi Hayashi, 41, of the rising opposition party Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party), and the LDP’s Hirofumi Kado, 57, are fiercely vying for the seat.

Twenty-seven percent of voters in the constituency support the LDP, and 13 percent back Nippon Ishin.

Hayashi is backed by almost all Nippon Ishin supporters and some LDP supporters. Kado is solidifying support from LDP supporters.

Unaffiliated voters are almost equally split between the two candidates.

The remaining two Lower House by-elections will be held in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Nobuchiyo Kishi, 31, of the LDP is slightly leading in the Yamaguchi No. 2 district over Hideo Hiraoka, 69, an independent.

Shinji Yoshida, 38, of the LDP is ahead of his rivals in the Yamaguchi No. 4 district, where the seat was vacated by the death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the survey showed.

Voters in each constituency were contacted through randomly chosen fixed telephone numbers.

The survey received 295 valid responses, or 60 percent of those contacted, in the Chiba No. 5 district; 399 (51 percent) in the Wakayama No. 1 district; 604 (67 percent) in the Yamaguchi No. 2 district; 556 (60 percent) in the Yamaguchi No. 4 district; and 814 (60 percent) in the Upper House Oita district.

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