TOKYO - Japan voted on Sunday in an election expected to
return the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) to power after a
three-year hiatus, giving ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a chance to push his
hawkish security agenda and radical economic recipe.
Polls opened at 0700
a.m. (2200 GMT) and will close at 8 p.m. (1100 GMT), when major TV broadcasters
will issue exit polls forecasting results.
An LDP win would usher in a
government committed to a tough stance in a territorial row with China, a
pro-nuclear power energy policy despite last year's Fukushima disaster and a
potentially risky prescription for hyper-easy monetary policy and big fiscal
spending to beat deflation and tame a strong yen.