Overview

• Prime Minister Ishiba has crisscrossed key prefectures to support candidates and defended a planned ¥20,000 cash payment as targeted economic relief rather than a popularity stunt.
• Agriculture Minister Taro Koizumi campaigned in Ehime, pledging to stabilize rice prices to protect both producers and consumers.
• Early surveys show Kanagawa’s four-seat contest is too close to call and Tokyo’s 32-candidate race sees LDP newcomer Daichi Suzuki holding a narrow lead.
• Campaign teams in Yamanashi have installed tents, water stations and cooling equipment and moved some events indoors to guard against the ongoing heatwave.
• With nearly half of voters still undecided, results remain fluid less than two weeks before the July 20 vote.