Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano apparently felt faint Tuesday while standing atop a campaign vehicle. He soon recovered with a sip of water, an aide said. The 70-year-old Yosano is running on the Liberal Democratic Party's ticket in the Tokyo No. 1 single-seat district.
Just as the campaign event was winding up at around 11:30 a.m. with a traditional "Ganbaro" ("Do your best!") chant, he grabbed a bar on the vehicle's roof, apparently to steady himself, instead of raising his arm to the sky.
He was helped down and then into the vehicle as a crowd of hundreds looked on. There were shouts of "Give him some water," "Call an ambulance" and "It's OK; he's OK."
One of Yosano's fellow candidates said he was probably suffering from anemia.
In his speech, Yosano told the crowd the economy has started showing signs of recovery and criticized the Democratic Party of Japan, saying the opposition force has no clear idea how to finance its policies.