Media interest in the polls is keen

As campaigning begins for general elections in Japan on 11 September, many papers have criticised Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for concentrating the debate on one issue - the privatisation of the Japanese postal system.

Mr Koizumi called the lower house election on 8 August after his postal privatisation bill, the centrepiece of his political agenda, was defeated in parliament.

National daily Asahi Shimbun quotes Mr Koizumi as saying: "Postal privatisation is my conviction. I don't care if I get killed."

Asahi is unimpressed by Mr Koizumi's "defiant remarks", and urges him to improve how he communicates his broader policy ideas to the general public.

Wider debate

Mainichi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun, two of Japan's largest dailies, join the call for a more wide-ranging debate in the run-up to the election.

Calling for "broader themes" to be brought into the campaign, Mainichi says there is no need for the people of Japan to comply with Mr Koizumi's intention to limit the election to the "narrow theme" of postal privatisation.

Yomiuri Shimbun presses both Mr Koizumi's governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) for a comprehensive solution to postal privatisation, but also calls for debate on another main issue: reform of the Japanese pension system.

Its editorial follows DPJ leader Katsuya Okada in urging the prime minister to present a "stable" solution to the pension issue.

Leading business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun laments what it regards as a poor quality discussion of both postal and pension reform, referring to a recent televised debate between the main party leaders.

It complains that Mr Koizumi was unclear on the pension issue during the debate, while Mr Okada was guilty of the same thing on postal privatisation, adding that both failed to discuss tax reform.

Another issue central to the election campaign, says daily Sankei Shimbun, is the Japanese premier's controversial visits to the Yasukuni war shrine, which have stirred up much anti-Japan sentiment in the past.

A debate an issue of such national importance is "indispensable", the paper says, and urges voters to take it into account.

Focus on Koizumi

Despite their criticism of what they see as a narrow election agenda, several commentators mention the influence of Mr Koizumi's personal agenda and standing in the eyes of the electorate.

Mainichi Shimbun suggests that Mr Koizumi called the snap election not to compete with the opposition, but to "purify the Liberal Democratic Party and restore his control on the party".

A commentator in political journal Foresight points out that the longer the gap between the postal reform vote and the election, the more support for the prime minister may wane.

But with elections less than two weeks away, another commentator in the same publication sees Mr Koizumi's reputation as the issue which continues to eclipse all others.

"I believe the result of the upcoming election will rest on a single issue," he suggests. "Will voters view Koizumi's words as representing a leader who would be willing to risk his life, or will they consider his words as reflecting nothing more than theatrics?"

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