While Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto is all but certain to be returned to office in Sunday's election, a lack of interest among voters and the refusal by the major political parties to field candidates threatens to make the result meaningless.
Hashimoto resigned last month after a municipal committee formed to discuss merging the city and prefecture of Osaka opposed the mayor's proposal, which calls for a final merger plan to be decided by this summer and for a citywide referendum on the issue in the autumn.
The Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the Democratic Party of Japan's municipal assembly members voted against the plan, which is backed by Hashimoto's Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) political group.