Official campaigns kicked off Sunday nationwide for the second half of the 15th quadrennial local elections, to be held April 27.
Campaigning began for 123 city mayoral elections, 387 municipal assembly elections, as well as 14 ward mayoral elections and 21 ward assembly elections in Tokyo.
On Tuesday, campaigning will commence for mayoral and assembly races in towns and villages.
Election officials said 299 people entered city mayoral races and 45 were running in the Tokyo ward mayoral elections. Among the city mayoral elections are six to be held in prefectural capitals -- Nagasaki, Oita, Ibaraki's Mito, Tochigi's Utsunomiya, Kagawa's Takamatsu and Ehime's Matsuyama.
Fourteen city mayoral posts were won uncontested, the second-lowest number after the 10 recorded in 1947.
Female candidates in city mayoral races are at a record high of 17, including the incumbent in Kunitachi, western Tokyo.
Municipal assembly election candidates will vie for a total of 10,246 seats in 387 cities.
Of the 45 running in the ward mayoral elections in the capital, female candidates totaled a record high of 11.
A total of 837 seats will be up for grabs in the Tokyo ward assembly elections.