Candidates make final appeal in Japan election

Tokyo: Candidates for the upper house of Japan`s parliament made final campaign pushes on Saturday, a day before elections that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe`s ruling coalition is expected to easily win as the economy picks up steam.

A victory Sunday would give Abe`s Liberal Democratic Party and junior partner New Komeito control of both houses of parliament an elusive goal for the government in recent years making it easier to pass legislation at a time when Japan faces huge structural challenges, including a rapidly graying population and bulging national debt. Reviving the long-stagnant economy is the top priority for voters, and Abe agrees. Aggressive monetary easing and public works spending the first two "arrows" of his three-pronged "Abenomics" economic program has so far borne some fruit, lifting the stock market, boosting business confidence and easing pressure on Japan`s vital exporters by weakening the yen. Major economic challenges lay ahead, including Abe`s promises to carry out economic reforms aimed at increasing Japan`s competitiveness the third "arrow" and a decision this fall on whether to follow through on raising the sales tax next April from 5 percent to 8 percent a move some warn will derail the fledgling recovery. A convincing victory in Sunday`s election, where half the 242 seats in the less powerful upper house of parliament are up for grabs, may also embolden Abe and his backers in the LDP to pursue a nationalistic agenda he had abandoned his first time in office in 2006-2007. Abe and others in the increasingly right-wing LDP have said they would like to revise the country`s pacifist constitution, drafted by the United States after World War II, to give Japan`s military a larger role and make changes to the education system to instill more patriotism in students. Under the campaign slogan "Recover Japan," the LDP promises to make Japan a muscular, gentle and proud country. It calls for a strong economy, strategic diplomacy and unshakable national security under the Japan-US Alliance, which allows for 50,000 American troops to be stationed in Japan. That message has resonated with some voters worried about tensions over territorial disputes with China and South Korea and widespread distrust of an increasingly assertive China. A recent survey by Pew Research Center showed that only 5 percent of Japanese have a favorable opinion of China. PTI