Top political leaders made their final appeals to voters Saturday before a crucial Lower House election that could bring a sweeping victory to the opposition and break the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's decades-long grip on power.

Prime Minister Taro Aso, whose LDP is widely seen as an underdog in Sunday's balloting for the powerful House of Representatives, called on voters to stick with his party.

"Can you trust these people? It's a problem if you feel uneasy whether they can really run this country," Aso told a crowd in Oyama, Tochigi Prefecture, warning them against voting for change.

Aso said more time is needed for economic reforms to pull the country out of its worst postwar recession and asked for support "so our government can accomplish our economic measures."

Just days before the election, however, Aso and the LDP took a big hit on the economy.

On Friday, the government reported that the unemployment rate hit a record high of 5.7 percent, the highest in the postwar era, and that deflation worsened as families cut spending amid uncertainty over the future and chose to conserve their money.

Hatoyama, 62, has used the nation's economic insecurities as a powerful argument for change.

He has promised to cut wasteful spending, delay tax hikes planned by the LDP, and put more money into consumers' pockets. That is a sharp contrast with the LDP's emphasis on tax-funded stimulus packages that are increasing government spending and the national debt.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts that Japan's public debt, already the highest among member nations, may reach 200 percent of gross domestic product next year.

Making the situation more dire is the rapidly aging population, which will see more people receiving their pensions at a time when the pool of taxpayers supporting them and other government programs is shrinking.

Still, doubts remain about whether the DPJ can deliver on its promises.

The party is proposing an expensive range of initiatives, including toll-free highways, free high schools, income support for farmers, monthly allowances for job seekers in training, a higher minimum wage and tax cuts. It is estimated the bill will come to ¥16.8 trillion if all the projects are fully implemented in fiscal 2013 as planned.

"I've supported the LDP before, but I'm not sure this time," said Eri Sato, a 25-year-old saleswoman in Tokyo. "My concern is whether the DPJ can really achieve its campaign promises."

Polls by major newspapers, including the Mainichi and the Asahi, said Hatoyama's party is likely to win more than 320 seats, sharply up from the 112 it held before the lower chamber was dissolved in July.