Japanese voters deliver their verdict on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's nearly five years in power in an election on Sunday that could give him the clout to push ahead with his cherished goal of revising the post-war, pacifist constitution.
Media forecasts show Abe's gamble on the snap poll is likely to pay off, with his conservative Liberal Democratic Party-led coalition closing in on the two-thirds "super majority" it had in parliament's lower house before dissolution.
A hefty victory would raise the likelihood that Abe, who took office in December 2012 promising to bolster defence and reboot the economy, will win a third