Just as the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election campaign is making headlines, Mr. Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan, formally announces his candidacy in the No. 1 opposition party's leadership race and discloses his platform. By emphasizing the need to rectify what some people see as a widening economic gap between the rich and the poor under the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Mr. Ozawa is targeting the policy line pursued by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, the front-runner in the LDP leadership race.

The DPJ leader, due to be automatically re-elected party chief Sept. 25 since no other candidates are expected, says his mission is to deprive the LDP and its coalition partner Komeito of their Upper House majority in next year's election. The task will be daunting, as he must hone his policy ideas, sell them to the public in a way that's easy to understand, maintain unity within his fragile party, and build strong election machines across the nation.

Mr. Ozawa's platform consists of two major thematic planks: "Toward an ordinary nation through common-sense politics" (his basic ideas), and a "just society toward a nation living together" (his policy measures). His platform is apparently designed to counter Mr. Abe's platform, whose top priority is constitutional revision.