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The governor is the highest ranking executive of a prefecture in Japan.
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| Japanportal |
The governor is the highest ranking executive of a prefecture in Japan.
The Japanese political process has two types of elections.
Prefectural elections for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly were held on 12 July 2009. In the runup to the Japanese general election due by October they were seen as an important test for Taro Aso's ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New Komeito. New Komeito considers Tokyo as an important stronghold and had repeatedly asked Prime Minister Aso to avoid holding the two elections within a month of each other.
The 11th Okinawa gubernatorial election was held on November 28, 2010. The official campaign start began November 11. The 2010 election garnered national attention mostly for the dispute between the central government and local communities in Okinawa over the planned relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan to Henoko in Nago that had also contributed to the resignation of prime minister Yukio Hatoyama in June 2010.
The 17th unified local elections in Japan took place in April 2011. In the first phase on April 10, 2011, 12 governors, 41 prefectural assemblies as well as five mayors and 15 assemblies in cities designated by government ordinance were elected. In the second phase on April 24, 2011, mayors and assemblies in hundreds of cities, "special wards" of Tokyo, towns, and villages were up for election. Additionally, a by-election for the National Diet was held in Aichi on April 24.
Events in the year 2012 in Japan.
The first stage of the 18th unified local elections in Japan took place on April 12, 2015. The Liberal Democratic Party under leadership of Shinzo Abe was the overall victor, winning many races including all ten gubernatorial races and 1,153 of the 2,284 assembly seats at stake. Further elections for municipal mayors and assemblies took place on April 26.
House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on Sunday 10 July 2016 to elect 121 of the 242 members of the House of Councillors, the upper house of the National Diet, for a term of six years. As a result of the election, the Liberal Democratic Party–Komeito coalition gained ten seats for a total of 145, the largest coalition achieved since the size of the house was set at 242 seats.
General elections were held in Japan on 31 October 2021, as required by the constitution. Voting took place in all constituencies in order to elect members to the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet. As the constitution requires the cabinet to resign in the first Diet session after a general election, the elections will also lead to a new election for Prime Minister in the Diet, and the appointment of a new cabinet, although ministers may be re-appointed. The election was the first general election of the Reiwa era.
The 2018 Okinawa gubernatorial election was held on 30 September 2018 to elect the next governor of Okinawa. As there are no term limits in Japan, incumbent Governor Takeshi Onaga was eligible for re-election before his death in August 2018. The election was originally scheduled to be held on 9 December 2018, but this was brought forward after Onaga's untimely death. Onaga's deputy, Kiichiro Jahana temporarily assumed his post for three days until being replaced as interim governor by Moritake Tomikawa. This was the first gubernatorial election in Okinawa since the voting age was lowered to 18.
The Democratic Party For the People, abbreviated to DPFP or DPP, is a centre to centre-right, conservative political party in Japan. The party was formed on 7 May 2018 from the merger of the Democratic Party and Kibō no Tō. In September 2020, the majority of the party reached an agreement to merge with the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the original party was officially dissolved on 11 September 2020. However, 14 DPFP members refused to merge, including party leader Yuichiro Tamaki, and instead formed a new party retaining the DPFP name and branding.
The 2018 Niigata gubernatorial election was held on 10 June 2018 to elect the next governor of Niigata. Incumbent Governor Ryuichi Yoneyama resigned on 18 April 2018 in the wake of a sex scandal. This was also the first gubernatorial election in Niigata since the voting age was lowered to 18.
The 2019 Hokkaido gubernatorial election was held on 7 April 2019 to elect the next governor of Hokkaido Prefecture. After serving four terms, incumbent Governor Harumi Takahashi decided not to seek re-election. The election resulted in a landslide victory for Naomichi Suzuki, the former mayor of Yūbari, who won 62% of the popular vote. His opponent, Tomohiro Ishikawa, had the support of CDP, JCP, SDP and DPFP, but only managed to secure 37% of the vote.
A gubernatorial election was held on 2 June 2019 to elect the next governor of Saitama. Incumbent Governor Kiyoshi Ueda declined to run for a fifth term. Motohiro Ōno, a former Upper House lawmaker and opposition candidate beat the candidate backed by the ruling LDP-Komeito coalition.
The 2022 Nagasaki gubernatorial election was a gubernatorial election held on 20 February 2022 to elect the next governor of Nagasaki, a prefecture of Japan in the north-west of Kyushu.
The 2022 Shiga gubernatorial election was held on 10 July 2022 to elect the next governor of Shiga, a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu island.
A gubernatorial election was held on 17 November 2002 to elect the Governor of Okinawa, who is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan.
The 2022 Okinawa gubernatorial election was held on 11 September 2022 to elect the next governor of Okinawa. In the election, incumbent Governor Denny Tamaki who was backed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and some smaller parties ran against Atsushi Sakima who was supported by the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito. Mikio Shimoji ran against both candidates as a third option. The potential relocation of the Naval Base Okinawa was, again, an important topic in the debate. Over 70% of voters in Okinawa opposed the relocation in the 2019 Okinawan referendum. Tamaki supported the complete removal of the base, while Sakima supported relocating it. Denny Tamaki won with 51.7% of the vote against Sakima and Mikio Shimoji.
The 2023 Japanese unified local elections were held across the country on 9 and 23 April 2023. In total 15,047 candidates were elected in 1,008 races with a high of 1,685 in Hokkaido and a low of 1 in Okinawa.
The 2023 Tottori gubernatorial election was held on 9 April 2023 to elect the next governor of Tottori. The incumbent Liberal Democratic Party governor won in a landslide re-election. It was held as part of the 2023 Japanese unified local elections.
2023 Ōita at-large district by-election was held on 23 April 2023 because Kiyoshi Adachi resigned as a member of the House of Councillors.
