2010 Japan gubernatorial elections

In Japan , eleven gubernatorial elections were held between February and December in 2010.

February 21, 2010: Nagasaki

In the election in Nagasaki Prefecture , Governor Genjirō Kaneko did not run after three terms. Seven candidates ran for Kaneko's successor, including his former Lieutenant Governor Hōdō Nakamura and former MAFF official Tsuyoshi Hashimoto. Nakamura, who enjoyed Kaneko's support, prevailed with a high voter turnout of 60 percent.

Result of the 17th gubernatorial election in Nagasaki

candidate	Support parties			be right	proportion of
Hōdō Nakamura				316.603	45.29%
Tsuyoshi Hashimoto			DP , SDP	222,565	31.84%
Atsushi Ōnita				98,200	14.05%
Reiko Oshibuchi				30,902	4.42%
Takao Fukamachi			KPJ	21,291	3.05%
Masahiko Yamada				6,634	0.95%
Mitsuyuki Matsushita				2,889	0.41%
total				699.084	100.00%
invalid and lost votes				6,411	0.90%
voter turnout				705.495	60.08%

March 14, 2010: Ishikawa

In Ishikawa Prefecture , Governor Masanori Tanimoto was re-elected for a fifth term with the support of the major parties. In contrast to the last two elections, he had not just one but three opposing candidates, and the turnout rose to 48.1% (2006: 40.1%). In addition to the CPY-supported Yoshinobu Kimura, the former DP lower house representative Yutaka Kuwabara and the former employee Teruo Yonemura also applied for the governorship. Tanimoto won through with around two thirds of the votes.

Result of the 17th gubernatorial election in Ishikawa

candidate	Support parties					be right	proportion of
Masanori Tanimoto					DP , LDP , Kōmeitō , SDP	296,628	66.71%
Yutaka Kuwabara						105.166	23.65%
Yoshinobu Kimura					KPJ	33,817	7.61%
Teruo Yonemura						9,056	2.04%
total						444,667	100.00%
invalid votes						6,919	1.53%
voter turnout						451,586	48.13%

April 11, 2010: Kyoto

In Kyoto Prefecture , the stronghold of the CPJ, Governor Keiji Yamada was challenged by the CPJ-backed Yūsuke Mon. As in 2002 and 2006, Yamada's candidacy for a third term was supported by the major parties. The voter turnout recovered slightly from the record low in 2006 by 2.65 points and stood at 41.1%.

Result of the 17th gubernatorial election in Kyoto

candidate	Support parties				be right	proportion of
Keiji Yamada				DP , LDP , Kōmeitō	529.927	63.26%
Yūsuke Mon				KPJ	307,826	36.74%
total					837.753	100.00%
invalid votes					11,999	1.41%
voter turnout					849,767	41.09%

July 11, 2010: Shiga

At the same time as the 2010 Sangiin election , the gubernatorial election was held in Shiga Prefecture , and a by-election for the Prefectural Parliament in Ōtsu was held on the same day . Governor Yukiko Kada was confirmed for a second term with the support of Democrats and Social Democrats against former LDP MP Ken'ichirō Ueno and CPY candidate Hideaki Maruoka. Kada had led her election campaign with the slogan mottainai (dt. About "pity drum") against public spending on major infrastructure projects. The turnout was 61.56%, the highest since 1998, when the gubernatorial election also coincided with the Sangiin election .

Result of the 17th Shiga gubernatorial election

candidate	Support parties			be right	proportion of
Yukiko Kada			DP , SDP	419.921	63.17%
Ken'ichirō Ueno			LDP	208,707	31.40%
Hideaki Maruoka			KPJ	36,126	5.43%
total				664.754	100.00%
invalid votes				6,660	0.99%
voter turnout				671.414	61.56%

August 8, 2010: Nagano

In Nagano , incumbent Jin Murai retired after serving one term. The national governing parties supported Shuichi Abe as his successor, a former official of the Interior Ministry, LDP and Kōmeitō supported Yoshimasa Koshihara, former mayor of Ōmachi, chairman of the Nagano Mayors' Conference and most recently vice governor under Murai.

The turnout fell by 13 percentage points compared to 2006, when the polarizing Governor Yasuo Tanaka was voted out. Abe prevailed with around 5,000 votes ahead of Koshihara.

Result of the gubernatorial election in Nagano

candidate	Support parties				be right	proportion of
Shuichi Abe				DP , SDP , NVP	362.903	39.85%
Yoshimasa Koshihara				LDP , Kōmeitō	357,882	39.30%
Takeshi Matsumoto				KPJ	189,793	20.84%
total					910.578	100.00%
invalid votes					9.323	1.01%
voter turnout					919.901	52.70%

August 29, 2010: Kagawa

Takeki Manabe , governor of Kagawa Prefecture , retired after three terms. For his successor, the former tax officer Keizō Hamada , the communist Akio Matsubara and the prefectural parliament member Satoko Watanabe with links to the women's movement and the Midori no Mirai applied . Hamada was supported by the major parties and clearly prevailed. The turnout increased slightly by 1.1 points, but remained extremely low at 36.9%.

Result of the 17th gubernatorial election in Kagawa

candidate	Support parties					be right	proportion of
Keizō Hamada					DP , LDP , Kōmeitō , SDP	163,583	54.87%
Satoko Watanabe						111,646	37.45%
Akio Matsubara					KPJ	22,895	7.68%
total						298.124	100.00%
invalid votes						5,262	1.73%
voter turnout						303,390	36.92%

October 31, 2010: Fukushima

In Fukushima Prefecture , Governor Yūhei Satō was confirmed as an all-party candidate ( ainori ) against the communist Katsurō Satō when the turnout (2006: 58.8%) fell sharply.

Result of the 19th gubernatorial election in Fukushima

candidate	Support parties					be right	proportion of
Yūhei Satō					DP , LDP , Kōmeitō , SDP	609,931,577	88.46%
Katsurō Satō					KPJ	79,594,364	11.54%
total						689,525.941	100.00%
invalid votes						9,065, 000	1.30%
voter turnout						698.591, 000	42.42%

For an explanation of the decimal places, see Elections in Japan # “Proportional fractional votes” .

November 28, 2010

Three gubernatorial elections were held on November 28, 2010, while the national government under Naoto Kan was in a low poll. National and international attention was particularly drawn to the election in Okinawa, where the controversial relocation of the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which contributed to the overthrow of the Hatoyama cabinet, was a major election issue. In Okinawa, the Democratic Party was unable to agree on a candidate due to internal disagreement over the US base; in Wakayama, two different candidates had the support of the two major parties.

Wakayama

In Wakayama Prefecture , Governor Yoshinobu Nisaka was supported by the LDP for re-election. The DP supported the former prefectural member of parliament Mariko Fujimoto. With a significant increase in voter turnout compared to 2006, Nisaka clearly prevailed.

Result of the 17th gubernatorial election in Wakayama

candidate	Support parties			be right	proportion of
Yoshinobu Nisaka			LDP , Kōmeitō	259,200	72.06%
Mariko Fujimoto			DP , NVP	76.051	21.14%
Yoshikazu Hora			KPJ	24,467	6.80%
total				359.718	100.00%
invalid votes				4,994	1.37%
voter turnout				364.717	43.37%

Ehime

In Ehime Prefecture , Tokihiro Nakamura , former mayor of Matsuyama, was elected as an all-party candidate to succeed outgoing governor Moriyuki Kato . Opposing candidates were Masayuki Komatsu, former president of Ehime University, and the communist Katsuhiko Tanaka. The turnout increased by six percentage points compared to 2006 to 49.17%.

Result of the 17th gubernatorial election in Ehime

candidate	Support parties				be right	proportion of
Tokihiro Nakamura				DP , LDP , Kōmeitō	452.664	78.15%
Masayuki Komatsu					96,324	16.63%
Katsuhiko Tanaka				KPJ	30,254	5.22%
total					579.242	100.00%
invalid votes					5,209	0.89%
voter turnout					584,461	49.17%

Okinawa

In Okinawa prefecture , as in 2006, the US bases were a main topic of the election campaign. As parts of the DP prefecture association refused to allow the USMC base Futenma to remain in the prefecture, which the DP-led central government is trying to enforce, the party was unable to agree on a candidate. The main rival candidate of Governor Hirokazu Nakaima , who enjoyed the support of the LDP, was Yōichi Iha, former mayor of Ginowan and strongly opposed to keeping the base in Okinawa. During the election campaign, Nakaima spoke out against the base more clearly than before, but, unlike Iha, continued to show a fundamental willingness to negotiate with the central government.

With voter turnout down four points from 60.9%, Nakaima was confirmed for a second term.

Result of the 11th gubernatorial election in Okinawa

candidate	Support parties				be right	proportion of
Hirokazu Nakaima				LDP , Kōmeitō , Minna	335.708	51.97%
Yōichi Iha				KPJ , SDP , Shadaitō	297,082	45.99%
Tatsurō Kinjō				Kofuku-jitsugen-tō	13,116	2.03%
total					645.906	100.00%
invalid and lost votes					4,456	0.69%
voter turnout					650,362	60.88%

December 26, 2010: Miyazaki

In the Miyazaki Prefecture , the incumbent governor, the former comedian Hideo Higashikokubaru , announced in the fall that he would retire after one term in office. With his support, his former lieutenant governor Shunji Kōno ran for the successor and won against three other candidates.

Result of the 18th gubernatorial election in Miyazaki

candidate	Support parties		be right	proportion of
Shunji Kono		DP , LDP , Kōmeitō	293,579	78.24%
Shōichi Chūman			57,574	15.34%
Daizen Miyamoto			12,658	3.37%
Tadakatsu Tsushima		KPJ	11,424	3.02%
total			375.235	100.00%
invalid and lost votes			2,958	0.78%
voter turnout			378.193	40.82%

Web links

• Todōfuken Senkyo Kanri Iiinkai Rengōkai (Japanese for "Association of Prefectural Election Oversight Commissions ", English misleading National Election Administration Committee )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Yahoo News: Result of the gubernatorial election in Nagasaki 2010 ( memento of the original from November 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ JANJAN, The Senkyo: Result of the gubernatorial election in Nagasaki 2010 ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Ishikawa Prefecture Electoral Commission: election results (PDF; 53 kB)
4. ↑ JANJAN, The Senkyo: Result of the gubernatorial election in Ishikawa 2010 ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Kyōto Prefecture Electoral Commission: Turnout  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Election result  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
6. ↑ 滋 賀 県 知事 に 嘉 田氏 再 選 過去 最多 の 約 40 万 票 . In: 47News / Kyōto Shimbun . July 12, 2010, Retrieved July 12, 2010 (Japanese). 
7. ↑ 滋 賀 県 知事 選 、 嘉 田氏 が 再 選 . (No longer available online.) In: MSN / Sankei Shimbun . July 12, 2010, archived from the original on July 14, 2010 ; Retrieved July 12, 2010 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ 嘉 田 さ ん 、 自然 体 で 圧 勝 県 政 史上 最多 の 得票 . In: Chūnichi Shimbun . July 12, 2010, archived from the original on July 14, 2010 ; Retrieved July 12, 2010 (Japanese). 
9. ↑ Shiga Prefecture Electoral Commission: Election result  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ Nagano Prefecture Electoral Commission: Voter turnout ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Election result ( memento of the original from March 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
11. ^ Kagawa Prefecture Electoral Commission: Election Results and Participation
12. ↑ Election Commission of Fukushima Prefecture: Gouverneurswahl 2010  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
13. ↑ Sōmushō: Result of the gubernatorial election in Fukushima 2010 (PDF; 126 kB)
14. ↑ Wakayama Prefecture Electoral Commission: Turnout and Results ( Memento of the original from August 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
15. ↑ Election Commission of the Ehime Prefecture: Gouverneurswahl 2010  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
16. ↑ Election Commission of the Okinawa Prefecture ( Memento of the original from February 13, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
17. ↑ Miyazaki Prefecture Electoral Commission: 2010 Governor Election ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.