Yuriko Koike, the conservative governor of Tokyo in Japan, was elected to a third term in a highly-voted election on Sunday. Her main rival was expected to be a Communist Party-backed candidate, but she came in third, losing to a YouTube celebrity who moved to Tokyo a week before the campaign began.
As is often the case in Japanese local politics, this year’s gubernatorial election may be remembered more for the chaos of a campaign than for the incumbent’s victory, which featured dozens of unusual candidates, from a one-party political activist to an eccentric performance artist to a man who promised to replace all politicians with artificial intelligence.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government offers candidates billboard space and some television time on the public broadcaster NHK at their disposal as a price for officially running for office. Many candidates have taken advantage of this for publicity, littering Tokyo with bizarre posters of cartoons and nude women and devoting airtime to cosplay and general shout-outs.
Tokyo residents have complained that this year’s race is “unpleasant” and lamented the confused attention it has attracted from foreigners.
Koike has been Tokyo governor since 2016 and was formerly a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has ruled Japan’s federal government with little opposition for most of the post-World War II period. She ran as an independent but was backed by the LDP and several other conservative groups.
Japan’s largest left-wing party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, has backed Renho Saito, a popular former lawmaker who has aggressively campaigned against the LDP in an attempt to capitalize on public disillusionment with the party. Renho, who is generally known by her first name, has also been supported by the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party, establishing her left-wing credentials.
Early reports Shown Renho’s name recognition and support from the country’s main opposition group make her the most likely challenger in an unprecedented 56-candidate field that has caused a stir in Japan’s media, a rare sight in a male-dominated society dominated by female politicians.
But on Sunday, Renho came in third. Shinji Ishimaru, the former mayor of Akitakata city in Hiroshima prefecture, came in second. moved He was assigned to Tokyo in June and resigned as mayor just before the gubernatorial election began in May.
According to a major Japanese newspaper Asahi ShimbunKoike won with 43% of the vote, far surpassing the 24.3% of runner-up Ishimaru, while Renho came in third with 18.8%.
Asahi Ishimaru attributed Koike’s victory to “strong support from female and older voters,” but younger voters, who are thought to be more inclined to vote against establishment-linked conservatives, split their votes among multiple candidates. Ishimaru appears to have outperformed Renho by winning the support of independent voters, who saw a significant increase in voter turnout from the 2020 election.
According to local media, Ishimaru said: Attracted Upload videos regularly to engage with voters YoutubeDespite not being from Tokyo and not being familiar with local issues, Mr Ishimaru quickly gained a loyal following. At a time of growing accusations of mismanagement of party funds by the LDP, he promised to bring a fresh perspective to Tokyo politics, focusing on issues that directly affect residents.
Some experts pointed out that Koike’s criticism of the LDP, to which she no longer belongs, seemed unable to unify the LDP’s votes, as it had become an election strategy for several other options.
“This is a reason not to vote for Koike, but it’s also a reason for which of the 50 or so candidates you will vote for,” said Kenneth McElwain, a political scientist at the University of Tokyo. Said Left wing The New York Times.
of Yomiuri newspaper Explained Koike’s victory came as a relief to the LDP after disappointing results in other local elections on Sunday. The party lost six Tokyo by-elections on Sunday despite retaining the governor’s office.
“There are concerns within the LDP that Koike’s victory is the result of the party’s efforts to avoid tarnishing its name, and that the party’s tough situation has not changed.” Yomiuri report.
The LDP has long benefited from the absence of a competent left-wing party, or more generally, a coherent left-wing politics, in Japan, which was in some ways underscored by the fact that 24 of the 56 candidates ran from the Party to Protect the People from NHK. Established They call for the abolition of the television licence fee for NHK, the group that caused much of the turmoil in this year’s election. Registration “Photos of influencers with corgis, babies and QR codes linked to their social media accounts were allowed to appear next to photos of the official candidates.”
The use of the billboard marked the first of several bizarre controversies the government has faced in the election. Got ready There were only 48 poster spaces available for the 56 candidates. The Election Commission dealt with the situation by asking candidates to tape their signs next to the main sign to give them more space.
The space quickly filled up with bizarre ads that had little to do with traditional politics. Some candidates posted cartoons or pictures of cute animals or dogs. The battle for space was fierce. as a result There was widespread vandalism, with campaigners destroying and replacing rival campaign posters.
One of the candidates, Yusuke Kawai, a long-time politician who dresses up as the Joker or a comic book villain mask in his political capacity, put up posters of nearly nude women, purportedly as a “freedom of speech” measure. Police issued him a warning and removed the posters.
Kawai’s eccentric style and campaign promises have siphoned off much of the public attention that would have gone to Renho and other candidates. Most of the leading candidates made the crisis of Japan’s rising birth rate their main campaign issue. All of them promised to increase financial support for parents and those considering having children, but they disagreed on what form the support should take. Kawai’s solution was polygamy, which he promoted with posters surrounded by models. He also released a promotional video on his YouTube page in which he partyed with women in a bar. These were less popular than Ishimaru’s political denunciations.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-thgvREjCK4
Issues listed on Kawai’s official social media profiles include “freedom of expression,” “abolishing welfare for foreigners,” “making euthanasia of animals illegal,” and “tax cuts.” Kawai appeared in costume, shouting and laughing hysterically for much of his official NHK appearance.
Kawai is in politics Feud Michihito Matsuda, who ran under the title of “AI Mayor” and called for the eradication of human rule. Like Kawai, the AI Mayor is not a new project, but rather Run 2018.
Michihito Matsuda, who won the presidential election, has come under criticism for using artificial intelligence to make political decisions and is linked to controversial figures and questionable proposals. pic.twitter.com/FSJTdMsuqZ
— Japonizando (@Japonizandobr) July 7, 2024
Another candidate, Airi Uchino, a small business owner affiliated with the NHK Party, used her allotted TV time to appear naked in front of the cameras and ask viewers to follow her on social media.
infield defeat Kawai failed to break through the zero vote threshold.
“It’s unpleasant. It’s embarrassing as a Japanese citizen,” a voter who gave her name as Noda Mayumi told The Associated Press last week. Lament “I’m sure a lot of foreign tourists pass by that sign and wonder what’s going on.”
