Tokyo governor election race kicks off with all eyes on 2 powerful female candidates
Veteran incumbent Yuriko Koike, 71, faces her biggest challenge from prominent opposition lawmaker Renho Saito, 56.
Incumbent Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike (L) and prominent opposition lawmaker Renho Saito on the Tokyo governor election campaign trail.
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TOKYO: The current Tokyo governor and a prominent opposition figure were among more than 50 candidates who began campaigning in the city’s gubernatorial election on Thursday (June 20).
Veteran incumbent Yuriko Koike is keen to stay in office for a third term, but she faces her biggest challenge from Constitutional Democratic Party lawmaker Renho Saito.
Ms Koike, 71, and Ms Renho, 56, are two prominent women in Japan’s heavily male-dominated political sphere. Both also have a surprising commonality – being from a television celebrity background.
Ms Koike has been Tokyo's governor for the past eight years, having steered the world’s biggest metropolis through the COVID-19 pandemic while hosting the Tokyo Olympic Games.
She is also the former minister of environment and defence. Before that, she was a journalist and news anchor.
Meanwhile, Ms Renho was minister of administrative reform and president of the now-defunct Democratic Progressive Party.
The former model and journalist with Taiwanese roots gave up her upper house seat to run in the current election. She also left the Constitutional Democrats to gain as much support from other opposition parties to face Ms Koike, who is backed by the ruling coalition.
Ms Koike had a relatively low-key start to her election campaign.
She briefly addressed supporters at her temporary election office on Thursday, saying she would “make Tokyo the number one city in the world” and “sharpen Tokyo’s biggest strength further”.
The election is taking place at a time when the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is still reeling from its losses in recent lower house by-elections. The party is pinning its hopes on Ms Koike’s potential victory to reverse the losing trend.
Ms Renho, on the other hand, had a busy and rousing first day.
She told her supporters: “If I can get hold of the fruits (of reform measures), the funds, I promise I will spend without hesitation on children and young people as governor.”
Dr Tomohiko Taniguchi, former special advisor to the late prime minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet, told CNA’s East Asia Tonight programme that it will be a “very much interesting race between these two media-savvy candidates”.
“They are very much keenly aware of appearance, in addition to substance, and they do know that images matter even more than substance,” added Dr Tomohiko, who is also a specially appointed professor at the University of Tsukuba and a special advisor to the Fujitsu Future Studies Center.
OTHER CANDIDATES WILL HAVE “VERY LITTLE” IMPACT
As for the other candidates, most come from small political groups led by livestreamers. Dr Tomohiko said they will have “very little” impact on the political landscape.
They had caught national attention in recent lower house by-elections after three were arrested for unruly behaviour on campaign trails.
“It's one of the best opportunities for you to sell your brand recognition, to sell your name. That's one of the reasons why those unnamed unpopular, unheard-of candidates are emerging, with the exception of a couple that have national recognition,” Dr Tomohiko added.
“So it boils down to a race between the two female candidates (Ms Koike and Ms Renho).”
Another top candidate is Mr Toshio Tamogami, 75, former chief of staff of the country’s Air Self Defence Force.
Considered by opponents as an ultra-rightist, he has vowed to step up disaster mitigation, focus on education and build a Japan independent of United States influence.
The election has shaped up to be the city's most crowded race in history. Whoever wins on Jul 7 will have to tackle the capital’s sliding fertility rate, its ageing population, and rising costs of living.
For now, Ms Koike is widely expected to win the race, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling LDP throwing its support behind her.
However, observers warned that it remains to be seen if support from the scandal-hit party may actually work against her.
