Election campaign begins with focus on "Abenomics"

Election campaign begins with focus on "Abenomics"

OSAKA, Japan - Toru Hashimoto, co-leader of the opposition Japan Innovation Party, kicks off his party's campaign for the Dec. 14 general election in Osaka on Dec. 2, 2014. The opposition camp will try to end the one-party dominance by the Liberal Democratic Party, which held nearly 300 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives before it was dissolved two weeks ago.

Election campaign begins with focus on "Abenomics"

Election campaign begins with focus on "Abenomics"

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Kenji Eda, co-leader of the opposition Japan Innovation Party, kicks off his party's campaign for the Dec. 14 general in Yokohama, near Tokyo, on Dec. 2, 2014. The opposition camp will try to end the one-party dominance by the Liberal Democratic Party, which held nearly 300 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives before it was dissolved two weeks ago.

Election campaign begins for general election

Election campaign begins for general election

TOKYO, Japan - Hiroyuki Arai, leader of the New Renaissance Party, starts the general election campaign on Dec. 2, 2014, in Tokyo. The ruling coalition aims at another victory on Dec. 14, while the opposition camp will try to stop one-party dominance by the LDP, which held nearly 300 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives before it was dissolved two weeks ago.

Campaigning for Dec. 14 Japanese general election begins

Campaigning for Dec. 14 Japanese general election begins

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Photo taken on Dec. 2, 2014, shows people clapping their hands as they listen to a speech by a candidate running for the Dec. 14 general election in Yokohama, near Tokyo, at the start of the official campaigning. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party aims at another victory, while the opposition camp will try to stop one-party dominance by the LDP, which held nearly 300 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives before it was dissolved two weeks ago.

Campaigning for Dec. 14 Japanese general election begins

Campaigning for Dec. 14 Japanese general election begins

IWAKI, Japan - People listen to a stump speech by a candidate running for the Dec. 14 general election in the disaster-hit northeastern Japan city of Iwaki on Dec. 2, 2014, at the start of official campaigning. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party aims at another victory, while the opposition camp will try to stop one-party dominance by the LDP, which held nearly 300 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives before it was dissolved two weeks ago.

Campaigning for Dec. 14 general election begins

Campaigning for Dec. 14 general election begins

TOKYO, Japan - Photo taken on Dec. 2, 2014, from a Kyodo News helicopter shows voters listening to a speech by a candidate running for the Dec. 14 general election in front of Futamatagawa Station in Yokohama, near Tokyo, at the start of the official campaign. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party aims at another victory, while the opposition camp will try to stop one-party dominance by the LDP, which held nearly 300 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives before it was dissolved two weeks ago.

Election campaign begins with focus on "Abenomics"

Election campaign begins with focus on "Abenomics"

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the Komeito party, the junior coalition partner of the Liberal Democratic Party, starts the general election campaign on Dec. 2, 2014, in Yokohama, near Tokyo. The ruling coalition aims at another victory on Dec. 14, while the opposition camp will try to stop one-party dominance by the LDP, which held nearly 300 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives before it was dissolved two weeks ago.

Election campaign begins for general election

Election campaign begins for general election

IWAKI, Japan - Banri Kaieda, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, shakes hands with voters in the disaster-hit northeastern Japan city of Iwaki on Dec. 2, 2014, when the official campaign for the Dec. 14 general election kicked off. The opposition camp will try to stop one-party dominance by the Liberal Democratic Party, which held nearly 300 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives before it was dissolved two weeks ago.

Election campaign begins for general election

Election campaign begins for general election

IWAKI, Japan - Banri Kaieda, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, launches the campaign for the Dec. 14 general election by giving a speech in the disaster-hit northeastern Japan city of Iwaki on Dec. 2, 2014. The opposition camp will try to stop one-party dominance by the Liberal Democratic Party, which held nearly 300 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives before it was dissolved two weeks ago.

S. Koreans vote in local elections overshadowed by ship sinking

S. Koreans vote in local elections overshadowed by ship sinking

SEOUL, South Korea - Voters line up to cast their ballots in a local election at a polling station in Seoul on June 2, 2010. Nearly 4,000 officials, including 16 metropolitan mayors and provincial governors, will be chosen in the first nationwide election in two years.

S. Koreans vote in local elections overshadowed by ship sinking

S. Koreans vote in local elections overshadowed by ship sinking

SEOUL, South Korea - A woman casts her ballot in a local election at a polling station in Seoul on June 2, 2010. Nearly 4,000 officials, including 16 metropolitan mayors and provincial governors, will be chosen in the first nationwide election in two years.

S. Koreans vote in local elections overshadowed by ship sinking

S. Koreans vote in local elections overshadowed by ship sinking

SEOUL, South Korea - Seoul Mayor Oh Se Hoon, running for reelection for the ruling Grand National Party, and his wife Song Hyun Ok cast their ballots at a polling station in Seoul on June 2, 2010. Nearly 4,000 officials, including 16 metropolitan mayors and provincial governors, will be chosen in the first nationwide election in two years.