KOBE -- Seven months ago, on the eve of the House of Representatives election, North Korea's abductions of Japanese was one of the main campaign topics.
But as the House of Councilors election approaches, most candidates are paying little attention to the issue and instead focusing their speeches on issues of more immediate concern to voters, including pension reform.
Before the November election, with the offspring of the five Japanese abductees who were repatriated in 2002 still in Pyongyang and the fate of 10 other missing Japanese, including those the North claimed are dead, still unconfirmed, relatives of the missing and their supporters were very frustrated and worked to make the abduction issue a major part of the Lower House campaign.