Tokyo: Millions of Japanese braved typhoon
conditions today for a snap election likely to hand Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe a fresh mandate to revive the world's
third-largest economy and press his hardline stance on North
Korea.
If pre-election surveys prove correct, Abe's conservative
coalition will cruise to a crushing majority to win a fresh
term at the helm of the key US regional ally and Asian
economic powerhouse.
Polling stations opened across the country at 7:00am
(local time) with voters battling high winds and driving rain
as an election-day typhoon barrelled towards Japan.