TOKYO -- When Prime Minister Fumio Kishida dissolved parliament in mid-October, the Shibuya ward office placed a sash announcing the lower house election on Hachiko, the faithful hound whose statue sits at the world-renown intersection. The target audience were the young adults who crowd around the popular rendezvous spot.
With two days to go until Sunday's poll, the race is tight in 40% of the 289 single-seat districts, according to a Nikkei poll conducted on Oct. 26-28, with a united opposition fielding single candidates in 70% of them. An earlier advantage in proportional districts is slipping for Kishida's Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, but the poll expects the coalition to retain a majority in the lower house.
