(Corrects date of previous election to 2019, not 2018, in paragraph 9)
* Abe's LDP party seen gaining from sympathy vote
* Former premier gunned down two days before poll
* Strong showing would strengthen PM Kishida's rule
By Elaine Lies
TOKYO, July 10 (Reuters) - Japanese voters went to the polls on Sunday for a parliamentary election that may give the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) a surge of support after the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a dominant politician and power broker.
Abe, Japan's longest-serving modern leader, was gunned down on Friday during a speech in support of a local candidate in the western city of Nara - a killing the political establishment condemned as an attack on democracy itself.
Elections for seats in parliament's less powerful upper house are typically seen as a referendum on the sitting government, and opinion polls before the assassination already pointed to a strong showing for the ruling bloc led by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, an Abe protege.
As the nation mourns, the LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito could gain from a potential wave of sympathy votes, political analysts said.
"The ruling LDP-Komeito coalition was already on course for a solid victory," James Brady of the Teneo consultancy said in a note. "A wave of sympathy votes now could boost the margin of victory."
Campaigning was halted on Friday after Abe's killing, but politicians resumed pre-election activities on Saturday.
There was an increased police presence when Kishida appeared at a campaign event in a city southwest of Tokyo and a metal detection scanner was installed at the venue - an unusual security measure in Japan.
Polls will close at 8 p.m. (1100 GMT), when initial exit poll results are expected.
Turnout as of 10 a.m. was 6.18%, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said. This was up from 5.65% in the last upper house election in 2019, according to public broadcaster NHK. Media said 15.3% percent of voters had cast absentee ballots in advance.
"We just lost Mr. Abe. I would like the LDP to win many votes so that they can run the country in a stable manner," said Sakae Fujishiro, a 67-year-old pensioner who cast his vote for the ruling party in Tokyo's eastern Edogawa ward.
A strong showing at the polls could help Kishida consolidate his rule, giving the former banker from Hiroshima a chance to carry out his goal of boosting defence spending.
It might also allow him to revise Japan's pacifist constitution - something even the hawkish Abe was never able to achieve.