As many as 16 political parties will field candidates in the Dec 16 election. Why are there so many?

Thank God election date is not 31st Dec else we would have 31 candidates :) joking apart, "Subsidies" refer to 'Quote Of The Day.'

Japan is a democracy and so allows for a mutli-party systems. That's fine.

They should do away with the parties and just run as candidates.

Im not sure why there are that many parties. But I do know that with so many parties which ever one wins, nothing will never get done because of the bickering between the parties that follows. The only thing that happens is a power struggle to dethrone the current ruling party. And then the cycle starts over again.