test
参議院山口選挙区補欠選挙(by-election)は28日投開票され、自民党新人の前山口県下関市長・江島潔氏が初当選を確実にしました。記事は今朝段階のものですが、ここのtestに注目してください。ここは「試金石、今後を占うもの」という意味で用いられています。やはり山口は保守王国です。(UG)
Voting begins in Yamaguchi by-election, 1st electoral test for Abe
YAMAGUCHI, Japan, April 28, Kyodo
Voting in an upper house by-election in Yamaguchi Prefecture started Sunday morning, the first national-level electoral test for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government launched four months ago.
In the race closely watched as a prelude to the House of Councillors election this summer, Kiyoshi Ejima, a newcomer from Abe's governing Liberal Democratic Party, is seen as the front-runner, ahead of former Justice Minister Hideo Hiraoka, backed by the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan.
Two other candidates -- Naoko Fujii, 60, a former Shunan city assembly member of the Japanese Communist Party, and Miwako Kawai, a 50-year-old member of the Happiness Realization Party -- are also contesting the seat, which was left vacant when former upper house member Nobuo Kishi decided to run in last December's House of Representatives election.