Municipal mergers, integrated casino resorts, bullet trains and the future of nuclear power plants — local issues with national political repercussions — are expected to be taken up by candidates from Hokkaido to Kyushu in the coming weeks as the country prepares for a series of elections on April 7 and 21.
But if the 2015 local elections are any indication of what to expect this year, the real concern is finding candidates and then mobilizing people to vote at the prefectural level.
In 41 prefectural assembly elections scheduled for April 7, 27 percent of the seats are uncontested.