MIYAZAKI — When So Watanabe, a 32-year-old former Mainichi Shimbun reporter, indicated late last year he would represent the Democratic Party of Japan and take on Liberal Democratic Party incumbent Shinpei Matsushita, 43, for the Miyazaki Prefecture seat in Sunday's Upper House election, the issues seemed obvious.
Opinion polls at the time showed Miyazaki's voters were concerned about pocketbook issues like employment and the consumption tax, as well as education and health care. Thus, the campaign was initially seen primarily as a clash between two relatively young candidates who would woo voters with promises of bringing their youth and vitality to the Diet.
But then, disaster struck.