It speaks to the crisis in Japanese democracy when it took images of a "cascade" of scandals and opinion poll approval ratings at all-time lows, prompting speculation about voter suppression or predicted widespread apathy that Congress for yet another snap election polls days before operations.
It came three days after Shigeru Ishiba was chosen as the new ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader because he had yet to be officially sworn in as prime minister.
The move comes even though the LDP suffered below 20 percent approval ratings earlier this year due to a political fundraising corruption scandal.
That still gives the LDP a better chance than opposition parties that haven't been able to unite or communicate an alternative government.
The principal opposition party at that point had a mere 6.6% approval rating when parliament was dissolved.
Ahead of the polls opening, Miyuki Fujisaki—a long-time LDP supporter in her 30s who works in the care-home sector—says, "It is so hard to make decisions to choose parties. I think people are losing interest under these circumstances.
She continued that the LDP's management has been weak, and corruption scandals are rife—“well, so too the opposition to be fair.”
“Boy, do they talk about themselves a lot… and it's unclear what you want them to do," said the 66-year-old.
Miyuki Fujisaki "can't choose."Despite it all, politics in Japan has become a fast game over the past few months.
The ruling party marked Shigeru Ishiba to replace Fumio Kishida, who had served as prime minister since 2021 but surprised the political world in August when he resigned.
The timing of the decision to call an election appeared designed in part for that purpose. Infighting continues over how the government has conducted its pandemic response, and some factions within the LDP have openly declared they are taking steps toward dumping Suga. Ishiba, a veteran politician who was a defence minister in the past, called it "the verdict of the people."
But it is unclear if that will be sufficient to repair voters' trust in the LDP, which has been nearly always returned since its founding in 1955.
The dread aura the ruling party created is only due to several scandals. The hand that feeds: chief among the questions is how much influence lawmakers felt was being exerted by their paymaster, described as a "cult" and headed up to his death last year by Sun Myung Moon.
Then, there was the disclosure of the political funding scandal. Japan's prosecutors are investigating nearly four dozen LDP lawmakers for an alleged system of pocketing revenue from political fundraising events. They include allegations -- in the millions of dollars -- that broke powerful factions, its internal party politics.
Michiko Hamada, who traveled to Urawa station on the outskirts of Tokyo for an opposition campaign rally: "What a terrible state our ruling party is in."
"That is what I feel most. That is tax evasion, and it's unforgivable.
It is a sentiment she finds especially disgraceful in light of the price increase that so many suffer now.{BOX} At the same time, wages have been flat for three decades — a period known as "the lost 30 years" — even though prices in Japan rose at their fastest pace in nearly half a century over the last two fiscal years.
It was a month that ended with fresh price rises on thousands of food products and other daily essentials, including postage, drugs, and energy, as voters were preparing to head to polling stations.
Ms Hamada told the BBC, "I pay 10,000 yen or 20,000 yen ($65-$130; £50-£100) more for the monthly food.
I am not purchasing what I was purchasing before; I am saving, but it costs more still. Fruit and things like that are rather expensive.
And she is not the only one worried about price hikes. We have an aging population who was working full time but now have to work part-time," said pensioner Chie Shimizu.
"Ordinary living costs have risen a bit, but our pay has not moved or kept up with the times," she told BBC News as she bought food from a stall outside Urawa station. "Regular shop is expensive; come to places like this so I can find something cheap and good," he said.
Ms Shimizu has not voted for years—although she might this time around—but claims the few remaining with a franchise have still to make up their minds about which candidate or party they will vote for.
I can not find someone I wish to vote for. This makes me think that our leader cannot trust anyone. They send you to MP… Maybe that is their greed.
This move may be politically risky in the context in which Ishiba has been caught. 465 seats were up for grabs in the lower house, which his party had held with its coalition partner Komeito, wielding a majority of 279. The Diet has 465 seats, so it would take a majority of 233 to claim the house.
There are concerns that Komeito may fall short of winning that number again, while the main opposition—which had 98 seats in the old parliament—began to gain voter support this year before Sunday's election.
The LDP, I think, has dug a bottomless hole. It is not a department that has public trust, nor should it. It's just scandal after scandal unfolding,' Jeff Kingston, a professor of Asian Studies and history at Temple University Japan, tells the BBC.
However, he is still determining if this will translate into an election loss for the party.
"I think they (LDP) are concerned that they're going to lose some marginal seats, and there's a question mark over Komeito, how much of an LDP coalition partner will it be," Professor Kingston said.
Miyuki Fujisaki, the care home sector worker, says if their bid is successful, they will have to find more than just cheques to make a real difference.
"Please show us what you are going to do so this doesn't happen again," she said. " They have to prove it -- the way that I often say in election time.
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