Japan election campaign opens; voters eye change

By Chisa Fujioka

OSAKA, Japan (Reuters) - Voters in Japan flocked to rallies on Tuesday as official campaigning began in an election that is expected to see Prime Minister Taro Aso's party ousted for only the second time in its 54-year history.

Polls show Aso's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) headed for defeat in the August 30 vote for parliament's powerful lower house, which would usher in a government led by the opposition Democratic Party and raise the chance of breaking a policy deadlock.

The Democrats have pledged to revive the economy by putting more money in the hands of consumers, hold off on raising the 5 percent sales tax for the next four years and adopt a diplomatic stance less subservient to top security ally the United States.

Financial markets would welcome the prospect of smoother policy-making as Japan shakes off a recession, although some analysts say the Democrats' ambitious plans could inflate already high public debt and push up long-term interest rates.

The Democrats and their allies won control of parliament's upper house in 2007 and can stymie legislation.

Facing a crowd of hundreds in the western city of Osaka, Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama accused the conservative LDP of ignoring ordinary voters and said it was time for change.

"Everyone, the day has come to rewrite history," declared Hatoyama, the next prime minister if his party wins, to cheers from the crowd, many wearing hats and holding towels and parasols to beat the sun and sweltering summer heat.