Official campaigning for four lower house by-elections started across Japan on Tuesday, after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party won a number of key gubernatorial races over the weekend.
With campaigning for a vacant upper house seat in Oita Prefecture already under way, voting for the five by-elections will take place on April 23, the same day as the second round of contests across the country to select mayors and local assembly members.
The results of the by-elections could affect Kishida's decision on when to dissolve the lower house for a snap election, pundits said. The LDP is hoping to at least retain the three seats it held before the upcoming contests.
The focus of the elections is on government measures to cushion the negative impact of rising prices and its plans to boost spending on defense and child-rearing support, which have sparked speculation about possible tax hikes.
At a rally in the city of Wakayama, LDP election chief Hiroshi Moriyama called on voters to support Kishida's Cabinet. He said the ruling coalition of the LDP and the Komeito party is an "important framework for Japan."
In a stump speech in Chiba Prefecture, Kenta Izumi, chief of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, criticized the government for concentrating on boosting defense expenditure. "We have to convey the voices of the people to the Diet," he said.
The four lower house seats up for grabs are the Chiba No. 5 district, the Wakayama No. 1 district, and the Yamaguchi Nos. 2 and 4 districts.
The Yamaguchi No. 4 district was held by former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was fatally shot in July 2022. The LDP is backing Shinji Yoshida, a 38-year-old former city assembly member, while the CDPJ is fielding Yoshifu Arita, a 71-year-old former upper house lawmaker.
The Yamaguchi No. 2 district was vacated after former Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, Abe's younger brother, retired for health reasons in early February. His eldest son, Nobuchiyo Kishi, 31, is running to succeed him.
Hideo Hiraoka, 69, who served as justice minister in a government under the Democratic Party of Japan, the predecessor of the CDPJ, has also decided to throw his hat in the ring.
The Chiba No. 5 district election was called after the incumbent, former LDP lawmaker Kentaro Sonoura, resigned in December over the alleged underreporting of political funds.
The LDP, which is facing an uphill battle in the constituency amid the political funds scandal, is fielding Arfiya Eri, a 34-year-old former United Nations official of Uyghur descent.
Major opposition parties are fielding their own candidates in the Chiba No. 5 district, having failed to settle on a unified choice.
The Wakayama No. 1 district is up for grabs after Shuhei Kishimoto, a lawmaker of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, resigned to become the prefecture's governor.
Former lower house lawmaker Hirofumi Kado, 57, is running on the LDP ticket. Yumi Hayashi, 41, who served as kia local assembly member, has been endorsed by the Japan Innovation Party, which has a strong foothold in the Kansai region, including Wakayama.
In Oita, the upper house seat became vacant after independent Kiyoshi Adachi, who was elected to parliament with the backing of the CDPJ and other opposition forces in 2019, ran for the governorship of the prefecture.
Adachi was defeated by former Oita Mayor Kiichiro Sato, who was supported by the LDP, in the gubernatorial election on Sunday.
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