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On the afternoon of July 22, a meeting of election campaign officials from party and candidate offices across Japan was held at party headquarters with the aim of achieving unity across all prefectures before the general election campaign, which begins officially on August 18, and culminates in voting on August 30.
At the start of the meeting, DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama greeted the attendees saying, "The time has come for us to sweep Japan clean. I want you, in all of Japan's regions, to build the momentum for change".
Hatoyama also expressed his gratitude to campaign officials for their hard work in securing recent victories for the DPJ in Nagoya City Mayoral Election, Saitama City Mayoral Election, Chiba City Mayoral Election, Shizuoka Prefecture Gubernatorial Election, Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Election, and Nara City Mayoral Election. He continued, "it is finally time for the general election. We have to achieve a change of government. This election is about changing the bureaucrat-led political system which has existed since Japan entered the modern era and replacing it with a system where politicians are not passive, but rather use their mandate from the people to lead actively." He emphasized the importance of the election saying, "I want you to fight this election with an awareness of our historic mission".
DPJ Secretary-General Katsuya Okada then addressed the attendees, reporting on issues including the current status of the party's candidate list, stump speeches by senior party officials, candidates who will appear only on the proportional representation list, and plans to hold meetings to explain the DPJ's election manifesto at venues across Japan. Okada ended by saying, "We want to hold a major celebration on August 30, so please do all you can."
Okada was followed by DPJ Policy Research Committee Chair Masayuki Naoshima, who reported chiefly on party finances and the party's road map after taking office. He stressed that the party had prepared materials for candidates entering debates.
Okada and Naoshima also responded diligently to questions from campaign officials on issues such as handling particularly important candidates, ideas for boosting the voter turnout and policy related issues such as the proposed system of income compensation for individual farming households and the party's stance on public works projects and dam construction.
In response to a question, Naoshima also answered that there will be no change in the party's existing policy on the Futenma Air Base in Okinawa or the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement.
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