Japan goes to the polls on Sunday, with a dozen parties vying for votes.

The governing Democratic Party of Japan is expected to be ousted, with the conservative Liberal Democratic Party predicted to return to power.

Liberal Democratic Party

Shinzo Abe, 58, a conservative ideologue who favors revising the country's pacifist constitution, says he wants children to feel more patriotic and intends to push the central bank to print inflation-spurring cash.

If he becomes prime minister, he will be serving his second term in the office. He took over from Junichiro Koizumi in 2006, becoming the first in a series of six relatively powerless premiers.

Democratic Party of Japan

Yoshihiko Noda, 55, has proved himself a deceptively canny operator during the 15 months of his premiership.

The former finance minister, who made a virtue out of his plain looks by comparing himself to an unattractive but tenacious bottom-dwelling fish, helped to devise legislation that doubled sales tax to help plug budgetary holes. His attempt to nationalize China's Diaoyu Islands has led to a dispute that has severely damaged relations between China and Japan.

Japan Restoration Party

Shintaro Ishihara, 80, is an unreconstructed nationalist who resigned as Tokyo governor to return to national politics, initially at the head of his own party and then in concert with Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto.

The award-winning novelist-turned-politician is known at home and abroad for his sharp tongue.

AFP-China Daily