TOKYO -- The campaign for Japan's upper house election officially kicked off on Thursday, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition likely to see off a splintered opposition in the July 21 vote.
A wide range of issues will be raised over the coming weeks. Opposition parties are attacking Abe's Liberal Democratic Party over the state of the country's pension system and its plan to raise the consumption tax. The prime minister will be looking for a large victory that will help advance the debate over his long-held ambition of revising Japan's postwar constitution.
