fizzle out 弱々しく消える

citadel 要塞

On a night when an expected challenge by the main opposition party quickly fizzled out, candidates from a tiny local party seized one seat after another in Japan’s general election, turning an economically vital region into a citadel of rightwing populism.

work fingers to the bone 身を粉にして働く

A 50-year-old part-time worker, Kana Kasai, said she voted for someone who she thought would “work fingers to the bone” for a better future.

now-defunct 廃止された

The opposition has long struggled to win enough votes to form a government after a brief rule of the now-defunct center-left Democratic Party of Japan in 2009-2012, as they have not been able to present a grand vision for the country.