In today’s by-elections for Upper House seats in Okinawa and Fukushima, the results surprised no one, with the LDP winning in Okinawa — Abe personally campaigned hard — and the DPJ winning in Fukushima.

As with the election results from two weeks ago, it’s hard to make predictions for July based on these returns; as Jun Okumura notes, “What happens in Okinawa stays in Okinawa.”

But now that the second round of local elections is finished, preparations for July will begin in earnest — or at least in Kanagawa. 900 posters for DPJ candidates for Kanagawa’s two contested seats arrived in the office late last week.