By AFP
July 6, 2024
Polls suggest Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike (C at a campaign rally Saturday) will win a third term running the Japanese capital - Copyright AFP Yuichi YAMAZAKI
Kyoko HASEGAWA
Polls opened Sunday to elect a new Tokyo governor with incumbent Yuriko Koike challenged by opposition figure Renho, two prominent women in Japan’s male-dominated political sphere.
Japan has never had a woman prime minister and a large majority of lawmakers are men, but Tokyo, accounting for a tenth of the national population and a fifth of the economy, has been run since 2016 by former television anchor Koike, 71.
While few now tout the former defence and environment minister as a possible future prime minister, as many once did, polls suggest that the media-savvy conservative will win a third straight term in the metropolis of 14 million people.
This will be some relief ahead of national elections due by late 2025 to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of deeply unpopular Prime Minister Fumio Kishida which backs Koike, even though she broke away from the LDP in 2017.
Kishida, whose public support rate has been dwindling to around 20 percent, partly due to a political funds scandal revealed late last year, will also face the LDP leadership election later this year.
The Tokyo vote comes after new government data showed the birth rate hit a record low of 1.20 last year, with Tokyo’s figure 0.99 — the first Japan region to fall below one.
– Pledges of family support –
Both Koike and her nearest rival Renho, who goes by one name, have pledged to expand support for parenting, with Koike promising subsidised epidurals.
“After having their first child, I hear people say they don’t want to experience that pain again,” Koike said, according to local media.
“I want people to see childbirth and raising children as a happiness, not a risk,” said the incumbent, who has campaigned with an AI-version of herself.
Renho, meanwhile, pledged to support young people “and expand their life choices.”
“I will implement genuine long-term fertility measures,” said Renho, who is backed by Japan’s main opposition parties.
“I will also realise transparent fiscal reforms, where everyone can check the situation.”
A dark horse in the race could be independent candidate Shinji Ishimaru, 41, a former mayor of Akitakata in western Japan, recent polls also suggested, with some swing voters preferring him over Koike and Renho.
“If you look away, interest-based politics and pork-barrel projects will rear their ugly heads,” he said in a speech Saturday, stressing his financial expertise as a former banker.
A record 56 people are standing in the election, not all of them serious, with one dressing as “The Joker” and calling for polygamy to be legalised. Others are campaigning for more golf, poker or just to advertise their premises in the red-light district.
Local media speculate that the turnout may be up given that early votes cast through July 5 reached 1.65 million, up 20 percent from 1.38 million in 2020.
Overall turnout was 55 percent in the last vote, down from nearly 60 percent when Koike was first elected in 2016.
With nearly nude women, the Joker and pets, a Tokyo election descends into madness
By Mari Yamaguchi
July 7, 2024 —
Tokyo:
A person looks at an election poster board for Tokyo gubernatorial election.CREDIT:AP
But this year’s wackiness — notably from non-candidates renting the billboard space — is proving exceptional, and residents have flooded election offices with angry calls and messages.
“They are distasteful. As a Japanese citizen I feel embarrassed, as I see many foreign visitors pass by those billboards and they must wonder what’s going on,” said Mayumi Noda, an office worker. “As a voter, I think it’s outrageous and disrespectful to the other candidates who are seriously competing.”
A record 56 candidates, including incumbent Governor Yuriko Koike, who seeks her third four-year term, are running in the election. Many of the candidates are fringe figures or influencers seeking even more exposure. They include a man dressed as The Joker, who supports freedom of sexual expression, including allowing polygamy to help Japan’s falling birth rate.
Tokyo, a city of 13.5 million, has outsized political and cultural power in Japan. Its budget equals that of some nations, and its policies impact the national government.
The Joker, who is running as a candidate in this weekend’s governor election in Tokyo.
By Mari Yamaguchi
July 7, 2024 —
Tokyo:
Tokyo voters are electing a new governor this weekend, but residents say personal publicity stunts have overtaken serious campaigning to a degree never seen before, with nearly nude women in suggestive poses, pets, an AI character and a man practising his golf swing.
It’s impossible to ignore. With internet campaigning still relatively new, candidates traditionally use designated election billboards — more than 14,000 of them — to promote themselves. The makeshift billboards are set up only during the short campaign season and are valuable space for exposure in a city already crammed with advertising.
It’s impossible to ignore. With internet campaigning still relatively new, candidates traditionally use designated election billboards — more than 14,000 of them — to promote themselves. The makeshift billboards are set up only during the short campaign season and are valuable space for exposure in a city already crammed with advertising.
A person looks at an election poster board for Tokyo gubernatorial election.CREDIT:AP
But this year’s wackiness — notably from non-candidates renting the billboard space — is proving exceptional, and residents have flooded election offices with angry calls and messages.
“They are distasteful. As a Japanese citizen I feel embarrassed, as I see many foreign visitors pass by those billboards and they must wonder what’s going on,” said Mayumi Noda, an office worker. “As a voter, I think it’s outrageous and disrespectful to the other candidates who are seriously competing.”
A record 56 candidates, including incumbent Governor Yuriko Koike, who seeks her third four-year term, are running in the election. Many of the candidates are fringe figures or influencers seeking even more exposure. They include a man dressed as The Joker, who supports freedom of sexual expression, including allowing polygamy to help Japan’s falling birth rate.
Tokyo, a city of 13.5 million, has outsized political and cultural power in Japan. Its budget equals that of some nations, and its policies impact the national government.
The Joker, who is running as a candidate in this weekend’s governor election in Tokyo.
CREDIT:YOUTUBE
Hours after official campaigning began on June 20, residents faced a stunning array of posters. For some, it’s not even clear whether the person behind it is a candidate or simply seeks exposure.
One billboard featured racy posters for an adult entertainment shop. Another had an almost naked female model in a suggestive pose with a message that said “Stop restricting free speech.” Others showed photos of a pet dog or a female kickboxer. One candidate called AI Mayor used an image of a metallic humanoid.
Campaign video clips have also drawn criticism. One shows female candidate Airi Uchino saying, “I’m so cute; please watch my campaign broadcast,” and repeating her name in a high-pitched, anime-style voice while asking voters to be friends on social media. She then strips down to a beige-coloured tube top.
In another video, a male candidate who represents what he calls a “golf party” talks about his policies while occasionally practising his golf swing.
Under a 1950 public office election law, candidates in Japan are free to say anything as long as they do not support another candidate or carry obviously false or libellous content.
This year’s escalation is partly linked to an emerging conservative political party that has fielded 24 candidates for governor. Since each of the election billboards across Tokyo has 48 squares for candidates to paste their posters, the party is renting out half the slots to anyone who pays, including non-candidates.
That kind of unexpected approach isn’t regulated.
The rental cost starts at 25,000 yen (about $230) per location per day, said party leader Takashi Tachibana.
“We have to be wacky or we don’t get media attention,” Tachibana said in a YouTube comment posted on the party website.
“The point is to make immoral and outrageous actions ... to get attention,” said Ryosuke Nishida, a Nihon University professor and expert in politics and media. “The reason why some people find these performances amusing is because they think their objections are not taken into consideration by politicians and existing parties or reflected in their politics.”
At a park near Tokyo’s busy Shimbashi train station, passersby glanced at a campaign billboard with half of its slots filled with dog posters.
“I don’t decide who to vote for by looking at the faces on their posters,” said Kunihiko Imada, a plumber. “But I still think these billboards are being misused.”
AP, Bloomberg
Hours after official campaigning began on June 20, residents faced a stunning array of posters. For some, it’s not even clear whether the person behind it is a candidate or simply seeks exposure.
One billboard featured racy posters for an adult entertainment shop. Another had an almost naked female model in a suggestive pose with a message that said “Stop restricting free speech.” Others showed photos of a pet dog or a female kickboxer. One candidate called AI Mayor used an image of a metallic humanoid.
Campaign video clips have also drawn criticism. One shows female candidate Airi Uchino saying, “I’m so cute; please watch my campaign broadcast,” and repeating her name in a high-pitched, anime-style voice while asking voters to be friends on social media. She then strips down to a beige-coloured tube top.
In another video, a male candidate who represents what he calls a “golf party” talks about his policies while occasionally practising his golf swing.
Under a 1950 public office election law, candidates in Japan are free to say anything as long as they do not support another candidate or carry obviously false or libellous content.
This year’s escalation is partly linked to an emerging conservative political party that has fielded 24 candidates for governor. Since each of the election billboards across Tokyo has 48 squares for candidates to paste their posters, the party is renting out half the slots to anyone who pays, including non-candidates.
That kind of unexpected approach isn’t regulated.
The rental cost starts at 25,000 yen (about $230) per location per day, said party leader Takashi Tachibana.
“We have to be wacky or we don’t get media attention,” Tachibana said in a YouTube comment posted on the party website.
“The point is to make immoral and outrageous actions ... to get attention,” said Ryosuke Nishida, a Nihon University professor and expert in politics and media. “The reason why some people find these performances amusing is because they think their objections are not taken into consideration by politicians and existing parties or reflected in their politics.”
At a park near Tokyo’s busy Shimbashi train station, passersby glanced at a campaign billboard with half of its slots filled with dog posters.
“I don’t decide who to vote for by looking at the faces on their posters,” said Kunihiko Imada, a plumber. “But I still think these billboards are being misused.”
AP, Bloomberg
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