InsideJapan News Network

Shintaro Ishihara has been re-elected as Tokyo's governor for the fourth term in a row, after winning last weekend's elections, it has been reported.

Early vote-counts and media projections all point to the 78-year-old being the winner, beating off various contenders including former Miyazaki governor Hideo Higashikokubaru and pub chain founder Miki Watanabe, Japan Times reported.

Mr Ishihara was the popular choice due to his experience, meaning that voters were more likely to trust him to deal with the country's worst postwar crisis, the national paper said.

The governor said that he would lobby for draft disaster prevention measures for Tokyo to be introduced over the next four years, while keeping with many of his successful policies from the past 12 years.

Tokyo's gubernatorial election coincided with several other local elections, which took place across Japan over the weekend (April 9th-10th).

Campaigning was restrained and far from vigorous, in light of last month's natural disasters, Japan Times added.

Last month, the governor of Kanagawa, Shigefumi Matsuzawa, pulled out of the Tokyo election, citing the need to look after his own prefecture instead of campaigning.

Written by Kimberley Homer


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