Party leadership to be elected September 14 through an electoral college system, with votes distributed as follows:

1. Diet members get one vote, each of which will count as two points in the electoral college. At the time of the election there are 412 DPJ members sitting in the Diet, meaning their votes will account for 824 of the electoral college points.

2. 100 points are allotted to the 2,382 DPJ members sitting in local assemblies across Japan.

3. 300 points are allotted to the party's rank and file members. There will be about 340,000 DPJ members at the time of the election.

The candidates:
Naoto Kan - The incumbent prime minister, elected in June following the resignation of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. He is seeking retention in the party's biennial leadership election, but is under fire after the ruling coalition lost its majority in the upper house of the Diet.

He began his political career a socialist, but has moved to the pragmatic centre in recent years as a result of the influence of Tony Blair's third-way politics. Deficit reduction is one of his chief issues.

Ichiro Ozawa - Former leader who presided over the party's capture of the upper house in 2007 and the initial march towards its landslide lower house victory until he resigned as a result of ongoing funding scandals. Ozawa has been shut out of power in the party since resigning as secretary-general in June and despite his scandal problems and his reputation as "Shadow Shogun" from his

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Party leadership to be elected September 14 through an electoral college system, with votes distributed as follows:

1. Diet members get one vote, each of which will count as two points in the electoral college. At the time of the election there are 412 DPJ members sitting in the Diet, meaning their votes will account for 824 of the electoral college points.

2. 100 points are allotted to the 2,382 DPJ members sitting in local assemblies across Japan.

3. 300 points are allotted to the party's rank and file members. There will be about 340,000 DPJ members at the time of the election.

The candidates:
Naoto Kan - The incumbent prime minister, elected in June following the resignation of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. He is seeking retention in the party's biennial leadership election, but is under fire after the ruling coalition lost its majority in the upper house of the Diet.

He began his political career a socialist, but has moved to the pragmatic centre in recent years as a result of the influence of Tony Blair's third-way politics. Deficit reduction is one of his chief issues.

Ichiro Ozawa - Former leader who presided over the party's capture of the upper house in 2007 and the initial march towards its landslide lower house victory until he resigned as a result of ongoing funding scandals. Ozawa has been shut out of power in the party since resigning as secretary-general in June and despite his scandal problems and his reputation as "Shadow Shogun" from his skilled behind the scenes dealing, he is seeking to regain power by running himself.

Ozawa has been a mainstay in Japanese politics for decades, rising to high positions of leadership in multiple parties throughout his career. Since joining the DPJ he has traditionally been a leader of the party's right wing.

The electoral college:
In recent opinion polls, Kan has earned a large lead amongst the general public, and, presumably, also with his own party members. A Kyodo poll of assembly members also gives him a 65-35 lead over Ozawa. However, because the electoral college is weighted such that roughly 2/3 of votes belong to Diet members, Ozawa has the ability to overcome his current public unpopularity. Many of the Diet members swept into office in 2007 and 2009 were hand-picked by Ozawa as party leader and although some have turned against him following his scandals he continues to hold the loyalty of a large number of Diet members. At last count the figures were close amongst the two in Diet member support, with Ozawa leading Kan roughly 170-160. With about 20% remaining publicly undecided, it remains difficult to judge a clear favourite.

In June 2011 Kan survived a no-confidence vote in the lower house but suggested he would step down as party leader and prime minister as soon as a "certain degree" of post-earthquake recovery was met. Speculation has been that this will occur in August, though some opposition figures are pushing for an earlier exit.

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