Official campaigning kicked off Tuesday for the June 25 general election, which will determine the fate of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and his three-party coalition government.
A total of 1,404 people filed candidacies for the 480-seat Lower House by the 5 p.m. deadline — 1,199 for the 300 single-seat constituencies and 205 running solely for the 180 seats in the proportional representation section.
The 12-day official campaign period began in the morning as party leaders took to the streets of Japan.