Gubernatorial elections in Japan 2011

In 2011, there were 20 gubernatorial elections between January and November in Japan .

Note: Most candidates run as non-party in gubernatorial elections; therefore the party affiliations are not listed separately in the election results and only the recommendations and formal support given by the parties are listed.

January 30, 2011: Yamanashi

In the gubernatorial election in Yamanashi Prefecture , incumbent Shōmei Yokouchi applied for a second term with the support of the major parties. The only opposing candidate was the CPY-supported Reiko Ōkubo. With the turnout of 42.29% (2007: 66.23%) falling sharply, Yokouchi clearly prevailed.

candidate	Support parties				be right	proportion of
Shōmei Yokouchi				DP , LDP , Kōmeitō	240.058	82.96%
Reiko Ōkubo				KPJ	49.294	17.04%
total					289.352	100.00%

February 6, 2011: Aichi

The gubernatorial election in Aichi Prefecture was part of a nationally noted "triple vote" ( triple tōhyō ) in the city of Nagoya : on the initiative of Nagoya's mayor Takashi Kawamura , early mayoral elections and a recall vote for the city council took place on the same day . In the gubernatorial election, Kawamura and his regional party Genzei Nippon supported the candidacy of former LDP MP Hideaki Ōmura , who had opposed his party. Four other candidates ran for the governorship, incumbent Masaaki Kanda had withdrawn after three terms.

Ōmura, who during the election campaign had spoken out in favor of a permanent cut in prefecture taxes, received almost half of the votes cast and was able to clearly distance the candidates from the two major parties. The turnout was 52.52%.

candidate	Support parties				be right	proportion of
Hideaki Ōmura				Kōmeitō , Genzei Nippon	1,502,571	49.23%
Kazuhiko Shigetoku				LDP	546.610	17.91%
Shin'ichirō Misono				DP , SDP , NVP	487,896	15.98%
Michiyo Yakushiji				Minna	324.222	10.62%
Toshihiko Doi				KPJ	141,320	4.63%
total					3,002,619	100.00%

April 10, 2011: Uniform regional elections

Main article: Uniform regional elections in Japan 2011

In the first phase of the unified regional elections in 2011, the governors of Hokkaidō , Tokyo , Kanagawa , Fukui , Mie , Nara , Tottori , Shimane , Tokushima , Fukuoka , Saga and Ōita were newly elected. Incumbents stood for re-election in nine prefectures, all of which were re-elected for a further four years.

Elected governors

prefecture	Election winners (number for re-elections)	Support parties
Hokkaidō	Harumi Takahashi (3)					LDP, Kōmeitō
Tokyo	Shintaro Ishihara (4)					- (unofficial / partially: LDP, Kōmeitō)
Kanagawa	Yūji Kuroiwa					Kōmeitō (unofficial / partially: DP, LDP)
Fukui	Issei Nishikawa (3)					LDP, Kōmeitō
Mie	Eikei Suzuki					LDP, Kōmeitō, Minna
Nara	Shōgo Arai (2)					- (formerly LDP-Kōmeitō-supported)
Tokushima	Kamon Iizumi (3)					- (formerly LDP-Kōmeitō-supported)
Tottori	Shinji Hirai (2)					- (formerly LDP-Kōmeitō-supported)
Shimane	Zembē Mizoguchi (2)					LDP, Kōmeitō
Ōita	Katsusada Hirose (3)					Kōmeitō, SDP (unofficial / partially: DP, LDP)
Fukuoka	Hiroshi Ogawa					Kōmeitō, SDP, NVP, Nōseiren (unofficial / partially: DP, LDP)
saga	Yasushi Furukawa (3)					LDP, Kōmeitō

June 5, 2011: Aomori

Governor Shingo Mimura ran for a third term in the election in Aomori Prefecture . LDP and Kōmeitō supported his re-election. Former Democratic Prefectural MP Takashi Yamauchi and Communist Yō Yoshimata ran against Mimura. Nuclear power was also a topic of national attention during the election campaign - there are several nuclear plants in Aomori, including the Rokkasho reprocessing plant; During the election campaign, Yamauchi called for construction to be halted for further nuclear facilities in Aomori, and Yoshimata for an exit from nuclear power.

With a turnout of 41.5%, Governor Mimura was re-elected for another four years with around 75 percent of the vote.

Result of the gubernatorial election in Aomori

candidate	Support parties			be right	proportion of
Shingo Mimura			LDP , Kōmeitō	349.274	74.53%
Takashi Yamauchi			DP , NVP	83,374	17.79%
Yō Yoshimata			KPJ	35,972	7.68%
total				468.620	100.00%
invalid votes				4,592	0.97%
voter turnout				473.212	41.52%

July 3, 2011: Gunma

In the gubernatorial election in Gunma Prefecture on July 3, 2011 incumbent Masaaki Ōsawa applied for a second term with the support of LDP, Kōmeitō and Minna no Tō. The official election campaign began on June 16, 2011. Opposing candidates were the prefectural parliamentarian Arata Gotō of Liberal Gunma , an opposition faction made up of supporters of Ōsawa's predecessor Hiroyuki Kodera , the entrepreneur Atsushi Ebine and the communist Keiji Kosuge. Main election campaign topics were measures from Ōsawa's first term, including the health care for middle school students and the conflict with the central democratic government over dams in Gunma, the damage after the Tōhoku-Kantō earthquake and energy policy. Ōsawa, who in his first term of office was the only governor in the country with formal party affiliation, this time ran as an independent as usual today. Ōsawa won by a clear margin over Gotō and the other two candidates.

Result of the 18th gubernatorial election in Gunma

candidate	Support parties				be right	proportion of
Masaaki Ōsawa				LDP , Kōmeitō , Minna	392.504	67.54%
Arata Gotō					148,790	25.60%
Keiji Kosuge				KPJ	33,355	5.74%
Atsushi Ebine					6,515	1.12%
total					581.164	100.00%
invalid and lost votes					7,518	1.28%
voter turnout					588,682	36.62%

July 31, 2011: Saitama

The gubernatorial election of Saitama Prefecture took place on July 31, 2011, and the official election campaign began on July 14. The incumbent has been Kiyoshi Ueda since 2003 , who is running again with the support of the prefectural associations of DP, LDP and Kōmeitō. In addition, the unionist Satoru Haratomi and the former high school teacher Nobuhiro Takeda competed with the support of the CPY.

With a historically low turnout of 24.9% in gubernatorial elections across the country, Ueda clearly prevailed with over 80% of the vote.

Result of the 18th gubernatorial election in Saitama

candidate	Support parties				be right	proportion of
Kiyoshi Ueda				DP , LDP , Kōmeitō	1,191,071	84.29%
Satoru Haratomi				KPJ	171,750	12.15%
Nobuhiro Takeda					50,252	3.56%
total					1,413,073	100.00%
invalid votes etc.					25,394	1.77%
voter turnout					1,438,467	24.89%

September 11, 2011: Iwate

The gubernatorial election in Iwate , which was actually planned for the uniform regional elections , was postponed because of the Tōhoku earthquake . It took place at the same time as the postponed prefectural parliamentary elections and some local elections in Iwate on September 11, 2011. The official election campaign started on August 25th. Governor Takuya Tasso ran for a second term with the support of the Democratic Party. Liberal Democrats, Social Democrats and the "Regional Party Iwate" ( Chiiki Seitō Iwate ) supported the former prefectural member of Parliament Hiroyuki Takahashi, a trade unionist from Iwate with communist support and a local entrepreneur as an independent candidate. The main topic of the election campaign was the reconstruction after the earthquake.

With a historically low turnout of 59.9% for Iwate Prefecture, Governor Tasso was re-elected for a second term with more than two-thirds of the vote.

Result of the 17th gubernatorial election in Iwate

candidate	Support parties				be right	proportion of
Takuya Tasso				DP	438.975	68.25%
Hiroyuki Takahashi				LDP , SDP , Chiiki Seitō Iwate	163.397	25.40%
Tsuyumichi Suzuki				KPJ	25,240	3.92%
Tetsuo Ashina				-	15,567	2.42%
total					643.179	100.00%

November 27, 2011

On November 27, the regular gubernatorial election in Kōchi and an early new election in Osaka will take place, which will be held at the same time as the mayoral election in the city of Osaka.

Osaka

In Osaka Prefecture , Governor Tōru Hashimoto resigned in October 2011 to run for the mayoral election on November 27, 2011 in the city ​​of Osaka . The new election of the governor took place on the same day. The official start of the election campaign period was November 10, 2011; The main topic of the election campaign was Governor Hashimoto's planned abolition of the city of Osaka. For Hashimoto's Osaka Ishin no Kai , General Secretary Ichirō Matsui applied as his successor, previously a member of the prefectural parliament for the city of Yao . It led to the start of the election campaign in polls in front of his main rival candidate, the previous mayor of Ikeda Kaoru Kurata, who was supported by both the Democratic and Liberal Democratic parties. Other applicants included lawyer Shōji Umeda (supported by the Japanese Communist Party), former prefectural official Shū Kishida, building contractor Masaru Nakamura, former middle school teacher Masaaki Takahashi and running candidate Mac Akasaka of the Smile Party.

The LDP Sangiin MP Kazuya Maruyama , whose candidacy threatened to split the LDP Prefectural Association into two camps for the gubernatorial election, withdrew a few days after his candidacy was announced. The entrepreneur and long-term candidate Seizō Hashiba had also withdrawn a previously declared candidacy.

With an even higher turnout than in the last elections in 2008 (49.0%), Matsui achieved a clear victory. Since Hashimoto won the mayoral election in the city of Osaka at the same time and the Ōsaka Ishin no Kai holds a majority in the prefectural parliament, he now controls important local institutions for his administrative reform plans; The party holds relative majorities in the councils of the major cities of Osaka and Sakai. Hashimoto announced that his party would advance into national politics if the mainstream parties in the national parliament obstruct reform.

Result of the 18th gubernatorial election in Osaka

candidate	Support parties			be right	proportion of
Ichirō Matsui			Osaka Ishin no Kai	2,006,195	54.7%
Kaoru Kurata			DP , LDP	1.201.034	32.8%
Shōji Umeda			KPJ	357.159	9.7%
Shu Kishida			-	29,487	0.8%
Masaaki Takahashi			-	27,809	0.8%
Masaru Nakamura			21-seiki Nihon Ishin no Kai	22,349	0.6%
Mac Akasaka			Nihon Sumairu-tō	21,479	0.6%
total				3,665,510	100.0%
invalid votes etc.				53,348	1.4%
voter turnout				3,718,858	52.9%

Kochi

In Kochi Prefecture , Governor Masanao Ozaki's first term expires in December 2011. He was supported for re-election by the LDP, DP, Kōmeitō and SDP. The campaign period began on November 10th and ended on November 27th. Since even the Japanese Communist Party did not nominate an opposing candidate, there was no candidate besides Governor Ozaki, and he was confirmed in office without a vote. Most recently, a candidate for governor was elected without a vote in the Tottori election in 2003 due to a lack of opposing candidates.

On November 27th there were also three mayoral elections - with several candidates, i.e. with a vote - in the independent cities of Nankoku , Sukumo and the prefecture capital Kōchi .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Yamanashi Prefecture Election Commission: Turnout ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2012 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. 
2. ↑ Yamanashi Prefecture Election Commission: Election result ( Memento of the original from January 28, 2015 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. ↑ 公 明 、 現 職 推薦 を 決定 福井 、 青森 知事 選. (No longer available online.) In: MSN / Sankei News. February 10, 2011, formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 27, 2011 (Japanese).  ( 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.    
4. ↑ Mimura poised to win Aomori re-election bid. In: The Japan Times . June 5, 2011, accessed July 1, 2011 . 
5. ↑ The Senkyo: Gubernatorial Election in Aomori 2011 ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2016 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. 
6. ↑ Aomori Prefecture Electoral Supervision Commission: voter turnout and results ( memento of the original of June 10, 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. 
7. ↑ 群 馬 県 知事 選 県 政 評 価 め ぐ り 舌 戦 現 職 に ３ 新人 挑 む . (No longer available online.) In: MSN / Sankei News. June 17, 2011, archived from the original on November 9, 2012 ; Retrieved July 1, 2011 (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. ↑ The Senkyo: Gubernatorial Election in Gunma 2011 ( Memento of the original from July 12, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ Gunma Prefecture: Gouverneurswahl 2011 ( Memento of the original from June 20, 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. 
10. ↑ Saitama Prefecture Electoral Supervision Commission: Schedule for the 2011 gubernatorial election ( Memento of the original from January 11, 2012 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. ↑ 3 氏 が 届 け 出 ＝ 埼 玉 知事 選 . In: Jiji Tsūshin . July 14, 2011, Retrieved July 14, 2011 (Japanese). 
12. ↑ 埼 玉 県 知事 選 、 上 田氏 が ３ 選 投票 率 最低 . (No longer available online.) In: MSN / Sankei News. July 31, 2011, archived from the original on August 1, 2011 ; Retrieved August 1, 2011 (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.  
13. ↑ Saitama Prefecture Electoral Supervision Commission ( Memento of the original dated November 12, 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. 
14. ^ Incumbent Iwate Gov. Tasso reelected. In: The Japan Times . September 12, 2011, accessed September 13, 2011 . 
15. ↑ The Senkyo: Gubernatorial Election in Iwate 2011 ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2012 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. 
16. ↑ Eric Johnston: 'Second Osaka Castle battle' campaign starts. In: The Japan Times . November 10, 2011, accessed November 11, 2011 . 
17. ↑ Ikeda Mayor Kurata jumps into race for Osaka governorship. In: The Japan Times . October 28, 2011, accessed October 28, 2011 . 
18. ^ Maruyama to contest Osaka race. In: The Japan Times . October 29, 2011, accessed October 31, 2011 . 
19. ↑ DPJ, LDP face national-level splits. Osaka victims' next target: Lower House. In: The Japan Times . November 28, 2011, accessed November 28, 2011 . 
20. ↑ Osaka Prefecture Electoral Supervision Commission: 2011 gubernatorial election result
21. ↑ 高 知 知事 選 、 共産 が 擁 立 見 送 り… 無 投票 の 様 相 に . In: Yomiuri Shimbun . October 26, 2011, archived from the original on October 27, 2011 ; Retrieved October 31, 2011 (Japanese). 
22. ↑ 高 知 県 知事 、 尾崎 氏 が 無 投票 再 選 ８ 年 ぶ り . In: 47News / Kyōdō Tsūshin . November 10, 2011, Retrieved November 11, 2011 (Japanese). 
23. ↑ 高 知 ３ 市長 選 あ す 告示 . (No longer available online.) In: MSN / Sankei News . November 19, 2011, archived from the original on November 23, 2011 ; Retrieved November 27, 2011 (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.