A total of 880 hopefuls are already preparing to run in the next general election, and both the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and its main opposition rival have chosen candidates for almost all single-seat constituencies, a survey showed Saturday.
According to the findings, 791 candidates were preparing to stand in the Lower House's 300 single-seat constituencies and 91 in the proportional representation section as of Saturday, with two of them running in both systems. Of the total candidates, 121, or around 14 percent, are female.
In single-seat constituencies, the DPJ and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party have named candidates in nearly 90 percent of all districts for the next election, which must be held before August 2013, according to the survey conducted by Kyodo News.
Of the 791 single-seat aspirants, the survey showed that 263 will run on the DPJ ticket, comprising 258 incumbents and five newcomers, while 264 will represent the LDP — 115 incumbents, 74 former lawmakers and 75 rookies.
New Komeito, the second-largest opposition party, is set to endorse candidates in only nine single-seat constituencies following its dismal showing at the 2009 general election, when none of its candidates were elected in single-seat constituencies.
Among other opposition parties, the Japanese Communist Party will field 116 candidates, Your Party 48, the Social Democratic Party 10, Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) five, and the newly formed Kizuna party three.