(Update) Japanese Parties' Election Campaigning Swings into Gear

   Tokyo, July 4 (Jiji Press)--Leaders of Japanese ruling and opposition parties took to the streets to canvass for votes on Friday as they entered full-fledged campaigning for the July 20 election for the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of parliament.
   In their speeches on the second day of the official campaign period for the Upper House election, party leaders focused on issues such as higher prices and rice shortages.
   Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who leads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, emphasized the importance of increasing rice production in a dialogue with local farmers in Shirakawa, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan.
   In a street address, Ishiba touted his ruling coalition's campaign pledge to provide cash benefits ranging from 20,000 yen to 40,000 yen per person to help cushion the impact of higher prices on households, saying this was "not pork barreling."
   Later, the prime minister visited Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan, which was hit hard by a major earthquake in January 2024, and pledged to make Japan the world's leading disaster-resilient nation.

(2025/07/04-21:08)