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.