LDP Seen Winning Japan Vote That Risks Policy Gridlock

Three years after its half-century rule of Japan ended, the Liberal Democratic Party is poised to regain power. Even so, a splintered political landscape risks the same gridlock that has led to six leaders in as many years.

Polls show that while the LDP will get the most seats in the Dec. 16 election in the Diet’s lower house, other parties may limit its victory. A party run by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto is favored over Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s Democratic Party of Japan, and groups calling for the abolition of nuclear power and opposed to a U.S.-led trade deal are also drawing support.