No single constituency can serve as perfect metaphor for a national vote, but the Number Three District of Japan’s mainly rural Niigata Prefecture gives a flavour of the battle playing out ahead of Sunday’s potentially historic general election.
On one side stands Yamato Inaba, 66, incumbent Diet member for the ruling Liberal Democratic party, with five consecutive campaign victories under his belt and an election leaflet that features an earnest looking photo of the candidate and the headline: “Responsibility and Defence of the Locality”.
