2026 Osaka gubernatorial election

2026 Osaka gubernatorial election

←  2023 8 February 2026 2027 →
Registered	7,177,655
Turnout	56.4% ( 9.4 pp)
Candidate Hirofumi Yoshimura Tsuneki Onishi Party One Osaka Independent Popular vote 3,024,106 452,807 Percentage 83.2% 12.5%
Governor of Osaka Prefecture before election Hirofumi Yoshimura One Osaka Elected Governor of Osaka Prefecture Hirofumi Yoshimura One Osaka

The 2026 Osaka gubernatorial election was held on 8 February 2026 to elect the governor of Osaka Prefecture. It was held alongside the Osaka mayoral election and Japanese general election. It was triggered by the resignation of Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura, who sought re-election as a mandate for a third referendum on the Osaka Metropolis Plan.

Background

The Osaka Metropolis Plan was a long-term goal of the Osaka Restoration Association (One Osaka), which Yoshimura belonged to. The plan would merge Osaka Prefecture into a metropolis akin to Tokyo. Referendums in 2015 and 2020 rejected it by narrow margins, and Yoshimura was elected governor of Osaka Prefecture in 2023.

In late 2024, the Japan Innovation Party, One Osaka's national affiliate, entered a governing agreement with the Liberal Democratic Party. Part of the agreement was a plan to designate a secondary capital for Japan. In order to enhance the chances of Osaka being selected, Yokoyama and the party decided to revive the Metropolis Plan. ^[1]

On 16 January 2026, Yoshimura and Osaka mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama announced that they were both resigning from their posts in order to seek a mandate for a third referendum. ^[2]

As Yoshimura resigned voluntarily without a vote of no confidence or recall, this election was considered a denaoshi (出直し; "fresh start") election (ja) under article 259/2 of the electoral law. If he won reelection, the previous electoral cycle would be maintained and the next regular election would be due in April 2027; ^[3] any other winner would begin a full four-year term.

Candidates

Incumbent Yoshimura was seeking re-election. 44-year-old Tamotsu Natto, the head of a public-interest foundation, and 61-year-old Tsuneki Onishi, leader of the political group Independent Alliance, also filed to run. ^[4] Onishi opposes the metropolis plan while Natto stated he will only pass it if 90% of voters approve. ^[5] Besides Yoshimura's Nippon Ishin party, none of the major national political parties ran or endorsed candidates. ^[6]

Candidate			Party	Background
		Hirofumi Yoshimura (age 50)	One Osaka Nippon Ishin no Kai	Governor of Osaka Prefecture (2019–26) Mayor of Osaka (2015–19) Member of the House of Representatives (2014–15)
		Tamotsu Natto (age 44)	Independent	Public-interest foundation chairman
		Tsuneki Onishi (age 61)	Independent	Co-president of the Independent Alliance

Results

Yoshimura was reelected as governor. ^[7]

Candidate	Party		Votes	%
Hirofumi Yoshimura		One Osaka	3,024,106	83.2
Tsuneki Onishi		Independent	452,807	12.5
Tamotsu Natto		Independent	155,855	4.3
Total			3,632,768	100.0
Invalid			417,480	10.3
Turnout			4,050,248	56.4
Registered voters			7,177,655
Source: 1, 2

See also

• 2026 Japanese local elections
• 2026 Osaka mayoral election - held on the same day
• 2026 Japanese general election - held on the same day
• 2026 Yamaguchi gubernatorial election - held on the same day
• 2026 Nagasaki gubernatorial election - held on the same day

References

1. "Osaka governor mulls stepping down to pave way for secondary capital designation". The Japan Times . 13 January 2026.
2. Johnston, Eric (16 January 2026). "Yoshimura gambles on double election to push plan to merge Osaka city's wards". The Japan Times .
3. "出直し大阪市長選５人の争い　来月８日投開票". jiji.com. 25 January 2026.
4. "Yoshimura, 2 other candidates file for Osaka governor's race". Asahi Shimbun . 22 January 2026.
5. "Campaigning begins for Osaka gubernatorial election on Feb. 8". The Japan Times . 22 January 2026.
6. "LDP to postpone fielding candidates in Osaka double elections; CDP, Komeito, and Communist Party also join". The Nikkei (in Japanese). 17 January 2026.
7. "JIP's Yoshimura, Yokoyama reelected in Osaka gubernatorial, mayoral race". Kyodo News . 9 February 2026. Retrieved 10 February 2026.