It's always tough to draw the attention of apathetic voters when stumping.

But many candidates running in the July 11 House of Councilors election say that as far as one policy issue goes -- reform of the public pension system -- things are different this time around.

"Twice as many people pick up our fliers when I speak on pension issues compared with when I talk about pork-barrel politics," remarked Yukihiko Akutsu, a House of Representatives member of the Democratic Party of Japan.