Tuesday's start of campaigning for the Dec. 16 Lower House election found Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) and Nippon Mirai no To (Tomorrow Party of Japan) candidates battling for two very different visions of a future Japan, but the so-called third force parties also had organizational problems at the candidate filing deadline.
Nippon Ishin's candidates are, for the most part, in their 30s and 40s, and 90 percent of them are male. They include former television announcers, former advertising and marketing directors, and a "dog spa" owner whose facility was designed to allow local children the pleasure of learning how to take care of man's best friend.
The party also includes numerous former regional government officials, especially from western Japan, as well ex-members of the Tachiagare Nippon ultraconservative party, and former secretaries to Diet members from the Liberal Democratic Party. Nippon Ishin currently has nine Diet members in both the Lower and Upper houses.