Shuttered factories dot the streets of Osaka, a city that once reverberated with the sound of trucks delivering all manner of parts to Japan's industrial giants.
Signs advertising available space underscore how competition from places like China and South Korea has eaten away at the fortunes of small companies in what was once a thriving manufacturing heartland. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has done little to turn this situation around, laments Koichi Kawakami, who owns small machinery parts company.
Even so, Kawakami, the 53-year-old president of Shinsei Co., says he will probably vote for Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's election for the Upper House.