While the current global financial crisis has added to the grimness, the root causes lie in Japan’s rural economic system of tiny, woefully inefficient family farms, which dates back to the end of World War II. But while many farmers and agriculture experts agree that this system is breaking down, change has been blocked by an array of vested interests and a fear of disturbing the established ways.

The question now is whether some sort of breaking point might soon be reached.

A change could be significant because rural voters form the base of a political pyramid at whose apex stands the Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan for more than half a century. The party is expected to face a tight race with the main opposition Democratic Party in general elections that must be called by early September.

In rural regions like Yamagata, the northern rice basket prefecture where Shonai is located, the signs remain mixed.

Takashi Kudo, the owner of a construction company here, said he remained a loyal supporter of Liberal Democratic lawmakers, who helped the local economy and his company with spending on local projects. Now, however, he said that his company’s sales have dropped by two-thirds over the last decade, forcing him to lay off half of his 23 employees.

Times are so tough that the local Shinto shrine has stopped hiring musicians for summer festivals, he said. Local residents feel abandoned by the party, leading to declining membership in election support groups, he said. But residents are not embracing the opposition, which he said suffered from the same lack of direction as the governing party.

“The reaction has been political disillusionment, not political revolt,” said Mr. Kudo, 45, sitting in his office below a photograph of his district’s Liberal Democratic lawmaker, Koichi Kato.

Still, there are growing calls here to give the Democrats a try. In January, a little-known school board member who ran as the opposition candidate unseated the incumbent Liberal Democrat to become governor of Yamagata, which had been firmly Liberal Democratic for generations.