With elections to the Upper House of the Diet on Sunday, Japanese voters seem ready to hand Prime Minister Shinzo Abe one of the bigger blank checks in memory.
No one has forgotten there's an election. It's impossible to escape the cacophony of campaign sound trucks, blaring slogans out of tinny loudspeakers. What's most noticeable, though, is the silence of the citizenry. Try finding the slightest hint that voters are fired up.
If recent contests have been notable at all, it's for setting low-turnout records. This one could top them all.