Ishiba's approval rating is falling, and the general election begins...I can't guarantee a landslide victory for the LDP.

The biggest topic in Japan's general election is 'political slush funds' and 'economy'
Ishiba Could Be Deadly Hurt If Not Securing Majority of Liberal Democratic Party
NHK "Promotion of 44%"…5%p ↓
from the launch of the Kishida CabinetKyodo News Poll: 42%...8%p drop since cabinet inauguration

[Anchor]
Ahead of the general election of the Japanese House of Representatives on the 27th, the curtain has risen in earnest.

With the Ishiba Cabinet's approval rating continuing to fall, some predict that it will not be easy for the Liberal Democratic Party to win in a landslide.

Correspondent Kim Se-ho's report from Tokyo.

[Reporter]
More than 1,300 ruling and opposition candidates entered a heated general election race for 465 seats in the lower house.

The election campaign is getting fiercer as the curtain rises on early voting, which runs until the 26th, the eve of the election.

[Shigeru Ishiba/ Japanese Prime Minister: It's a big deal if there's a direct earthquake in the capital!]

[Yoshihiko Noda / Leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party: The status quo cannot be changed by force!]

The biggest topic is political slush funds and economic issues that have brought the former Kishida cabinet and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to the brink.

[Shigeru Ishiba / Prime Minister: I will face each Member in question in connection with what I did not write in the Political Fund Report, call for reflection, and do my best to establish a law-abiding ethic.]

The Constitutional Democratic Party, the largest opposition party, has focused on political slush funds from the Liberal Democratic Party.

[Noda / Leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party: Dissolution to hide the back money. You can't cover it up. We need to break up this kind of politics supported by the back, this kind of politics of the Liberal Democratic Party, which has only the back.]

Ishiba, who has a weak party base, could face a fatal blow if he fails to secure a majority of the Liberal Democratic Party alone in the upcoming election.

The Liberal Democrats have held more than 261 seats since 2012, an absolutely stable majority to monopolize the standing chair.

The problem is low approval ratings.

NHK poll shows Ishiba's cabinet approval rating at 44%, 5% lower than when Kishida's cabinet was launched three years ago,
The
Kyodo News Survey showed a drop of more than 8%p to 42%.Changes in the

interest rate hike position and reversal of nomination policies for lawmakers involved in slush funds are also negative factors.

Prime Minister Ishiba dismissed the House of Representatives for the shortest period since taking office, casting a winning move to hold a general election, but

There are predictions both inside and outside the party that it is not easy to guarantee a landslide victory considering various conditions.

I'm Kim Se-ho from YTN in Tokyo.