On September 10, the DPJ presidential election campaign officially started. Four members of the House of Representatives who run for the DPJ presidential seat are as follows:

Yoshihiko Noda
Prime Minister, DPJ President

Hirotaka Akamatsu
Former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Kazuhiro Haraguchi
Former Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications

Michihiko Kano
Previous Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

After registering their candidacies, the four candidates attended a joint press conference in Tokyo at which they each made their case to become party leader.