Voters in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, will head to the polls Sunday to elect a new mayor in a key local race ahead of next month's Upper House election, with an Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) candidate reportedly the frontrunner in a closely contested campaign.
Three candidates are vying for the post, which was vacated in April after the previous mayor, Osami Takeyama, was forced to resign due to a political funds scandal.
Takeyama had been a staunch critic of efforts by Osaka Ishin, the local political group affiliated with the national Nippon Ishin no Kai, to merge Osaka Prefecture's cities and towns into a structure akin to Tokyo's 23 wards.