Official campaigning is under way for the June 25 general election. This will be the first Japanese general election to be held in three years and eight months, following the last poll in October 1996. The new Lower House, whose term will run to 2004, will be the center of national politics as Japan enters the 21st century.
A total of 1,404 candidates are vying for 480 seats -- 300 in single-seat constituencies and 180 in the proportional representation section. The simple majority will be 241. The number of eligible voters has exceeded 100 million for the first time in Japanese history.
The battle pits the tripartite ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party against the opposition forces of the Democratic Party of Japan, the Japan Communist Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party.