Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi dissolved the House of Representatives on Friday and set Nov. 9 as the date of a general election.
The official election campaign starts Oct. 28.
At stake in the election are 480 seats in the Lower House and the fate of the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling coalition, with the Democratic Party of Japan, the No. 1 opposition force, hoping to unseat the Koizumi administration.
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