Voters cast their ballots on Sunday in an election for Parliament's Upper House that will determine whether Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wins a mandate for his agenda of painful but vital economic reform.
Many of the public appeared drawn by the superstar aura surrounding Koizumi as well as the policies he promises. Koizumi needs a respectable showing for his long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to claim a popular mandate for his reforms of the long-stagnant economy. Koizumi's three-way ruling coalition needs to win 63 seats to keep a majority in the Upper House, whose membership will fall to 247 from 252 after this election.
Media surveys suggested support for the LDP had slipped a bit on the eve of the election, but the LDP-led three-party ruling bloc still looked on track to keep its majority.
As of 10:00 a.m., voter turnout was 11.4 percent, up 0.4 percentage point from the last Upper House election in 1998.
However, some voters said that while Koizumi has style, he lacks substance. Bureau Report