The 2018 Okinawa gubernatorial election was held on 30 September 2018 to elect the next governor of

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

. As there are no term limits in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, 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 relocation of the US air base in Ginowan to Nago was a major issue in the race. The campaign period ran from 13 September until election day. The election was won by

Denny Tamaki is a Japanese politician who has served as the Governor of Okinawa Prefecture since 2018. Tamaki was a member of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly for Okinawa City from 2002 to 2005 and became the first Amerasian member of the Japanese Hous ...

. Tamaki, like Onaga, wants a fundamental reduction of the U.S. presence in Okinawa.

Candidates

Running

* Atsushi Sakima, mayor of

Ginowan is a city located in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2024, the city has an estimated population of 100,319, with 47,490 households and a population density of 5,142 persons per km2. The total area is 19.51 km2. The city borders Chatan t ...

(2012–2018). (endorsed by LDP,

Komeito , formerly New Komeito (NKP) and commonly referred to as simply Komei, is a political party in Japan founded by the leader of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda, in 1964. It is generally considered centrist and socially conservative. Since 2012, i ...

Nippon Ishin no Kai The is a conservative and centre-right to right-wing populist political party in Japan. Formed as Initiatives from Osaka in October 2015 from a split in the old Japan Innovation Party, the party became the third-biggest opposition party in t ...

, and Kibo) *

, member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

for the Okinawa 3rd district (2009–2018). (supported by CDP, DPFP,

JCP JCP may refer to: Businesses *JCPenney, an American department store chain (founded 1902) *Jim Crockett Promotions, an American wrestling company (founded 1931) Government and politics * Jobcentre Plus, United Kingdom (formed 2002) * Joint Comb ...

, LP, SDP, and OSMP) *Hatsumi Toguchi, former member of the

Naha is the Cities of Japan, capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 people per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). ...

City Assembly. *Shun Kaneshima, former IT company employee.

Speculative

* Takeshi Onaga, incumbent Governor, died in August 2018.

Declined

*Morimasa Goya, local businessman and Onaga ally.

Campaign

Similar to the previous gubernatorial election, the issue of the relocation of the US air base in Ginowan to Nago dominated the campaign. The two main candidates were on opposing camps on the issue with Tamaki opposing any relocation within the prefecture and Sakima supporting the relocation. Tamaki made the relocation issue the main plank of his campaign. On the other hand, Sakima downplayed the relocation issue and instead focused on the local economy in his pitch. Voters that cited the base relocation as their most important issue mostly supported Tamaki, while those more concerned with the economy supported Sakima.

Results

The exit poll on election night indicated a large victory for Tamaki and the

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

called the election for Tamaki early during the count. He gained 396,632 votes, the most votes ever obtained by a candidate in an Okinawa-wide election.

Breakdown

References

{{2018 elections in Japan 2018 elections in Japan

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...