Politics are about making decisions, and some of the most difficult ones are those based on where loyalties lie.
Those with ties to the Liberal Democratic Party are finding this out the hard way in the Tokyo No. 10 district, which covers Toshima Ward and part of neighboring Nerima Ward, ahead of Sunday's general election.
The man who won in this district in the last election, Koki Kobayashi, has been elected to the House of Representatives four times on the LDP ticket. This time, he is running on the newly formed New Party Nippon's ticket after being denied LDP backing in the election as punishment for voting against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's postal privatization bills.