The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan kicked off its presidential campaign Friday, with four candidates vying to reinvigorate the country's largest opposition party following its poor showing in last month’s general election.
The candidates in the Nov. 30 election are Junya Ogawa, 50, former parliamentary vice internal affairs minister; Chinami Nishimura, 54, former state health minister; CDP policy chief Kenta Izumi, 47; and Seiji Osaka, 62, a special adviser to the prime minister when the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) held power.
The party is coming off a disappointing showing in the Oct. 31 Lower House election, dropping from 110 seats to 96. Among those who lost their district seats were veteran party leaders Kiyomi Tsujimoto and Ichiro Ozawa. Ozawa returned as a proportional representative but Tsujimoto did not.