Influential lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party are actively meeting in dinner parties in what can be viewed as attempts to sound each other out ahead of this summer's national election.
When the wave of COVID-19 infections subsided in the spring, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the LDP's president, made the first move, followed by other heavyweights including former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Taro Aso, vice president of the party.
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