With Japanese Prime Minister Mr Junichiro Koizumi's popularity still at levels of just under 70 per cent, his
ruling camp seems set to to perform well in Sunday's election.
The election campaign will determine the fate of Mr Koizumi's agenda for economic reform.
Mr Koizumi needs his ruling bloc, including his Liberal Democratic Party, to perform well in Sunday's poll for parliament's Upper House to claim a mandate for change.
The only doubt seems to be if the hefty chunk of undecided voters swings against the tripartite coalition out of disillusionment with Mr Koizumi's failure to flesh out his promises or fears that keeping them will spell too much social and economic pain.
Economists say the reforms are needed to end a decade of stagnation but will almost certainly hurt an already deteriorating economy in the short term.
But Mr Koizumi has given himself a diplomatic headache with a promise to pay homage to Japan's war dead at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, where World War Two war criminals are also enshrined.
China and South Korea, victims of Japan's wartime aggression, are urging Mr Koizumi to call off the visit, which he says he will make on the August 15th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War Two.
Some voters might worry Mr Koizumi's stirring up the storm shows foreign-policy incompetence; others might see a decision to back off as a sign he is weak-willed - hardly a plus for a leader who must forge ahead with tough reforms, analysts said.