Tokyo held a gubernatorial election on April 11, 1999 as part of the 14th unified local elections. Incumbent

Yukio Aoshima was a Japanese politician who served as Governor of Tokyo from 1995 to 1999. He is also well known as a TV actor, novelist, film director, screenwriter and songwriter. Early life and artistic career Yukio was born in Nihonbashi ward of Tok ...

announced that he would not seek re-election. All major candidates ran as independents but several were supported by major parties. The Liberal Democratic Party, led by Secretary General Yoshiro Mori, supported

Yasushi Akashi Yasushi Akashi (明石康 ''Akashi Yasushi'', born January 19, 1931 in Hinai, Akita Prefecture) is a senior Japanese diplomat and United Nations administrator. Overview Akashi graduated with Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of ...

as a compromise with coalition partner

New Komeito , formerly New Komeito and abbreviated NKP, is a conservative political party in Japan founded by lay members of the Buddhist Japanese new religious movement Soka Gakkai in 1964. Since 2012, it has served in government as the junior coalit ...

, but local LDP legislators divided their support between candidates Ishihara, Masuzoe and Kakizawa. Author and former Diet member

Shintaro Ishihara was a Japanese politician and writer who was Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the radical right Japan Restoration Party, he was one of the most prominent ultranationalists in modern Japanese politics. An ultra ...

, who had previously come in second in the 1975 gubernatorial election against incumbent governor

Ryokichi Minobe was a Japanese politician who served as Governor of Tokyo from 1967 to 1979. He is one of the best known socialist figures in modern Japanese history. Early life Minobe was born in Tokyo. His father, Tatsukichi Minobe, was a noted constitutiona ...

, won the election on a nationalist platform, saying that he would have the United States return

Yokota Air Base , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo. It occupies portions of Akishima, Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Musashimurayama, and Tachikawa. The base houses 14,000 perso ...

to Japan and clarify its position on Japan's ownership of the Senkaku Islands. Akashi came in fourth, the poorest showing by an LDP-supported candidate in Tokyo history. *Note: Excludes twelve other candidates, none of whom received more than 0.3% of total votes.

References

{{TokyoPrefecture elections 1999 elections in Japan Shintaro Ishihara Tokyo gubernatorial elections April 1999 events in Asia 1999 in Tokyo