Japan's lower house election begins

 TOKYO, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- The 46th Japan's House of Representatives election began at 7:00 a.m. local time Sunday. A total of 1,504 candidates will run for the 480 seats in lower house election.

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) registered 267 candidates while the main opposition¹ party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) registered 338 runners. The Japan Restoration Party and the Tomorrow Party of Japan, known as the third forces, registered 172 and 121 respectively.

About 49,000 polling stations across the country are open to voters and vote boxes will be sealed at 8:00 p.m. local time. The result is expected on early Monday at earliest.

Japan's lower house was dissolved by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Nov. 16.

According to the latest polls, the LDP is expected to grab a big win as the party and its ally, the New Komeito Party will together secure more than 300 seats in the election. However, the ruling party, headed by Noda, is likely to get around 60 seats, compared with its current 230 seats.

The LDP pledged to boost Japan's economy by setting a 3 percent inflation target to combat the country's continuous deflation. It will also exert more pressure on the Bank of Japan to adopt currency easing policies.

The LDP also aims at revising the country's pacifist constitution so as to upgrade the Self-Defense Forces into a national army and allow the country to use collective self-defense rights.

The party vowed² to phase out nuclear energy in the 2030s and will not construct new nuclear power facilities.

It also promised to create more than 4 million jobs in the fields such as new energy and health care and to achieve a two- percent GDP growth rate by the year of 2020.

Meanwhile, vote for Tokyo gubernatorial election also kicked off on Sunday, aiming at choosing a successor to Shintaro Ishihara, who suddenly quitted the post as the governor of Tokyo and turned to the general election.

Former Tokyo Vice³ governor Naoki Inose, who was recommended by Ishihara, was leading in the race against other eight runners, according to polls.

His major rivals include Kenji Utsunomiya, a former head of the Japan Federation⁴ of Bar Associations, Shigefumi Matsuzawa, former Kanagawa governor and Takashi Sasagawa, a retired⁵ lawmaker of the LDP.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

3 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

4 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。