d-1 in the japanese general election, the liberal democratic party's 'over-failure' sense of crisis...40% independent variable

[Anchor]
With Japan's general election in the lower house just a day away, attention is focusing on whether the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will secure a majority of seats.

Although the prediction that a majority is difficult due to the controversy over the Liberal Democratic Party's slush funds is gaining momentum, 40% of the independents are expected to be a big variable until the end.

Correspondent Kim Se-ho's report from Tokyo.

[Reporter]
Japan's general election is just a day away, with the fate of the Ishiba Cabinet's future state administration.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party and opposition parties will compete for 465 seats in the lower house.

[Reina Ogawa / Office worker: When you look at Prime Minister Ishiba, I think he is cool and doesn't get emotional and wants to do his best to people.]

[Masayuki Akimoto / Tokyo citizen: I think there are many advantages to the change of government. I hope the opposition party will cheer up more than enough.

The vote is at 7 a.m.It will be held until 8 p.m., and each broadcaster's exit poll will be announced immediately after the vote ends.

The overall outline of the election is expected to be revealed past midnight the next day.

The concern is whether the Liberal Democratic Party, which has never missed a majority since retaking power in 2012, will maintain a majority.

Currently, the Liberal Democratic Party's dominant regions have fallen to 80 seats from about 100 before the election, and expectations are continuing that the number of seats will be less than half.

The biggest reason is the failure to properly dispel the controversy over slush funds, which is the biggest weakness.

[Jeffrey Hall / Professor of Japanese Studies at Kanda International University] The Liberal Democratic Party has not done much practical work to deal with slush funds and has imposed weak penalties on party members through its own investigation.]

On the other hand, the Constitutional Democratic Party, the largest opposition party, is gaining momentum, with predictions that it could increase up to 150 seats from 98 seats.

If the Liberal Democratic Party fails to secure a majority of seats, Ishiba's cabinet will inevitably suffer fatal injuries.

However, the fact that 40% of non-affiliated people are non-affiliated is expected to be a big variable in this election.

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