Three rookies filed candidacies Thursday for the Oct. 22 by-election in Shiga Prefecture to fill a House of Councilors seat vacated by the resignation of lawmaker Tenzo Okumura.
The three are Shunyu Norikumo, 52, a former Ryukoku University professor of information engineering, former banker Hidetoshi Yamashita, 47, and Takashi Kawauchi, 44.
Norikumo is backed by Mushozoku no Kai, a group of independent lawmakers whose official English name is "Independents."
Yamashita is supported by the three ruling parties -- the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party. Kawauchi is a member of the Japanese Communist Party.