Aso, Hatoyama make final pleas

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama made their final pleas to win voters' support on the eve of Sunday's general election, in which Japan may see a change of power for only the second time since 1955.

"In the past, you may have thought your ballot didn't help change politics, but in this election it's not (the case)," Hatoyama, who could become Japan's next prime minister if his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) wins the House of Representatives election, told a large crowd in Tokyo's Ikebukuro Station, according to Kyodo News and NHK.

Japan's opposition Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama waves to voters during a campaign for the upcoming lower house election in Sakai, western Japan, August 29, 2009. Candidates across Japan made their final pitch on Saturday on the eve of an election the opposition looks set to win, giving the untested Democrats the job of tackling record unemployment and a fast-ageing society. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

"This is the first-ever election in which we may be able to achieve a change of power," he said, adding "I'm confident that years later, you'll recall Aug. 30 as a day when Japan's politics changed."

"It takes courage to rewrite history...the United States was able to do so, and why not Japan?" he said. He was referring to the administration of new U.S. President Barack Obama taking office in January.

At the same station and about the same time Saturday night, embattled Aso, head of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said, "the economic measures we have taken since last year were not mistaken," asking voters to give the LDP-New Komeito coalition power to complete its steps.

Japanese Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Taro Aso delivers a speech at a subway station in Tokyo, Japan, on August 29, 2009. Political party leaders took to the streets across Japan on Saturday to make their final plea for voters' support on the last day of campaigning for Sunday's general election.(Xinhua/Ren Zhenglai)

"I will accomplish them completely," he was quoted by Kyodo News as saying.

The two leaders wrapped up the final campaigning day after touring and giving speeches in different prefectures before arriving in Tokyo later in the day. Aso focused on the Kanto region while Hatoyama was mostly in Kansai region.

Local media polls showed the main opposition party is likely to secure a landslide victory in the election, winning more than 300 seat out of the total 480 to end the LDP's almost one-party rule for more than half a century.