Former MP Shinji Inatomi, 56, holds a slight lead in the Fukuoka mayoral election, but with 13 candidates splitting the vote none may clear the legal threshold, opening the way to a runoff, Kyodo News reported.
Kyodo polled voters on Saturday and Sunday and combined the results with its own reporting. The election is set for Nov. 15, at the end of the incumbent's term.
Five candidates are running neck and neck behind Inatomi, the survey found. More than 30% of respondents said they have not decided who to vote for.
The field of 13 is the largest in a Fukuoka mayoral race since the war. A candidate needs a set number of votes to be elected, and the survey suggests none will reach it.
Who is running
Inatomi is backed on a voluntary basis by Rengo Fukuoka, the prefectural arm of the national trade union confederation. The city assembly group of the Liberal Democratic Party has put up former city assembly member Takashi Chō, 48.
Also chasing are IT engineer Kentarō Mori, 48, of the Conservative Party of Japan; former city assembly members Yū Shinmura, 46, and Keiko Yoshitomi, 37, who has the backing of the Sanseitō party; and Ayano Sasaki, 29, head of a general incorporated association.
Further back are Junko Katayama, 70, secretary-general of a citizens' group and backed by the Japanese Communist Party, and Motoki Jinno, 41, principal of a private junior high and high school.
Trailing are former city assembly member Hideki Abe, 31; Kiyoshi Inoue, 56, an administrative scrivener from a minor party; former Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry official Hisaya Watanabe, 58; company employee Hiroki Nishiwaki, 35; and Akira Aramaki, 41, a part-time university lecturer from a minor party.
Kyodo surveyed eligible voters in Fukuoka, reaching 516 on landlines and 512 on mobile phones.