For Japanese voters, long accustomed to votes whose outcomes are known months in advance, it was a rare moment of real competition.

That rescue was unpopular among Japanese voters to begin with.

This time, more than 46 percent of Japanese voters endorsed Liberal Democratic candidates.

The election shows that Japanese voters want Government services but do not want to pay for them.

It cleared the way for Japanese voters to render what could be a devastating final judgment in elections this summer and next year.

But Japanese voters have seen governments pledged to reform come to naught before, undone by the formidable political and economic obstacles to change.

After four Prime Ministers in three years, Japanese voters had hoped that their next parliamentary election might bring a measure of political stability.

Japanese voters had mixed feelings over the idea, supporters of the bill acknowledged.

Japanese voters have long known that many of their leading politicians were spectacularly corrupt and out of touch.

For decades Japanese voters have associated the growth of industry with the growth of their own wealth.