The Social Democratic Party is in trouble. All but four of its members in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly have deserted the party, and those who have stayed are facing an uphill battle.
Indeed, Mutsumi Sakuma, one of the four, has found she has to depend more on the Democratic Party of Japan than the SDP. Sakuma, the SDP's official candidate for the Minami-Tama constituency, was featured at a DPJ rally May 30 for the entire Tama region in Tachikawa. But at the same time, the SDP was holding its "All-Party Rally" at SDP headquarters in the Nagatacho area.
Her conspicuous absence there is said to be symptomatic of the party's difficulty, if not crisis, in handling the campaign. "The Liberal Democratic Party could occupy both of the seats in the constituency," said Harufumi Yamamoto, Sakuma's campaign chief. "I think all the SDP candidates are facing a tough race this time."