Forty-six candidates applied Thursday to run in 11 gubernatorial elections April 13 in Tokyo and 10 other prefectures, marking the official start of campaigning that is expected to focus on the economy and support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Yoshihiro Katayama, 51, secured his second term as Tottori governor when nobody else submitted an application. The last time a governor was elected without a vote was in 1982 in Shiga Prefecture.

The upcoming elections are the first to be held nationwide under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi since the Upper House election in July 2001.

Opposition leaders who gave their candidates pep talks in many parts of Japan blamed Koizumi for the rising unemployment rate and the government's unpopular support for the war.

Democratic Party of Japan President Naoto Kan said in Sapporo that Koizumi "has gone too far to support the U.S. war in order to divert the public's attention from his failed economic policies."

Koizumi, speaking to reporters at his office, agreed the two issues will "inevitably" have an impact on the elections but asked that people support his governing coalition.

He stressed that the overall policy direction of pushing forward structural reform has not changed.

Asked about the election strategy of the Liberal Democratic Party he heads, Koizumi said the party will adopt different policies in each constituency in line with the particular needs of those communities.

"The LDP has a policy of adopting local voices in each area, so I expect to see an advance in local autonomy," he said.

Of the 46 people filing candidacies for the gubernatorial races, five are incumbents. The total figure is 10 fewer than the record high in 1999, when 12 gubernatorial elections were held.

The elections will pick governors for Tokyo, Kanagawa, Hokkaido, Iwate, Fukui, Mie, Tottori, Shimane, Fukuoka, Saga and Oita prefectures.

Many candidates are running as independents, reflecting the tendency of voters to shy away from the major parties. But Tokyo, Kanagawa and Hokkaido will effectively be battlefields for the LDP and the DPJ, the main opposition force.

In Tokyo, Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, 70, is seeking a second four-year term. His main rival is Keiko Higuchi, 70, a social critic.

Both are running as independents, but Ishihara is backed by the local LDP branch and Higuchi by the DPJ and the Social Democratic Party.

The other candidates in the Tokyo race are agricultural consultant Kazutomo Ikeda, 70; inventor Yoshiro Nakamatsu, 74; and Yoshiharu Wakabayashi, 52, head of the Tokyo chapter of the Japanese Communist Party.

"The other candidates are vague and do not sparkle," Ishihara said of his rivals as he kicked off his campaign in Shinjuku Ward.

Higuchi called for peace in light of the war in Iraq in a speech at JR Shinjuku Station. She criticized Ishihara for his militaristic views, saying he has "created a Tokyo that cannot speak and a Japan that cannot seek peace."

The governor has said he understands the feelings of antiwar protesters but does not think the Iraq issue can be resolved "only with pathos and emotions."

The number of candidates in the Tokyo race is the smallest ever, a possible reflection of the widespread belief that Ishihara already has victory in the bag.

In Kanagawa, the LDP and its two coalition allies are supporting Ryoichi Takarada, 55, president of a local company. Independents Shigefumi Matsuzawa, 45, and Yoko Tajima, 62, who gave up their Diet seats to run for governor, formerly belonged to the DPJ and the SDP, respectively.

In Hokkaido, the LDP and one of its allies are backing former bureaucrat Harumi Takahashi, 49. Former DPJ lawmaker Yoshio Hachiro, 55, is supported by the DPJ, the SDP and the Liberal Party.

Commenting on the course of the elections, LDP Deputy Secretary General Fukushiro Nukaga told a party meeting Thursday that the party will probably face uphill battles, particularly in the Hokkaido, Kanagawa and Fukui gubernatorial races.

The 15th quadrennial local elections also include 44 prefectural assembly and 12 municipal assembly elections and the mayoral election in Sapporo on April 13, as well as numerous other mayoral and municipal assembly elections and four parliamentary by-elections on April 27.

There are 2,372 local elections scheduled for April 13 and April 27, down by 65 from four years ago, according to the latest Kyodo News survey.

The results are expected to have little effect on Koizumi's basic political standing, supported as he is by the tripartite coalition. But they could influence his policies and the strength of his leadership, which pundits believe is eroding in line with his falling public support rate.

For Kan, who returned to the helm of the DPJ in December, the elections will be a test of whether he can lead the party any closer to replacing the LDP.

The local-level elections are also seen as a prelude to a House of Representatives general election, which must be held within 15 months.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, however, said the outcome of the local elections would not affect national politics in any way.

"Local polls are for local interests," he told a news conference. "They're different from elections for Diet members."