The 2012 Tokyo gubernatorial election took place on December 16, 2012, which was held on the same day as the general election.

Background

After long-term Governor

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 ...

suddenly resigned to return to national politics ahead of the then-looming next general election.

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...

br>Former head lawyer to run for Tokyo governor November 10, 2012
/ref> A field of nine candidates emerged, with the front-runner being

Naoki Inose is a Japanese politician, journalist, historian, social critic and biographer of literary figures such as Yukio Mishima and Osamu Dazai. He served as Lieutenant Governor of Tokyo from June 2007Jun Hongo"Ishihara's new right-hand man settles in."'' ...

, who had been vice-governor under Ishihara from 2007 to 2012, and then acting governor after Ishihara's abrupt resignation. Inose vowed to follow Ishihara's policies.

Candidates

Mac Akasaka , real name Makoto Tonami (戸並誠 ''Tonami Makoto''), is a Japanese businessman, political activist and perennial candidate. He was born in Nagoya, grew up in a struggling family, and attended Kyoto University. He spent 25 years as an executi ...

(real name: Makoto Tonami) - Therapist, activist, perennial candidate. Founder and leader of the Smile Party. * Masaichi Igarashi - Member of the board of directors of an international exchange body. *

- Journalist, historian, social critic. Then vice-governor of Tokyo and acting governor. *

Shigefumi Matsuzawa is a Japanese politician and a current member of the House of Councillors for the Kanagawa at-large district in the Diet of Japan. A native of Kawasaki, Kanagawa and graduate of Keio University with a bachelor's degree in Political Science, h ...

- Former governor of

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanag ...

. * Yoshiro Nakamatsu (Dr. NakaMats)- Inventor, perennial candidate.

br>Campaign begins to succeed Ishihara
/ref> * Takashi Sasagawa - Former LDP General Council Chairman. * Tokuma Suginomori (TOKMA) - Rock musician. Director of the

Happiness Realization Party The , abbreviated as Kōfuku (), is a Japanese political party founded by Ryuho Okawa on 23 May 2009 "in order to offer the Japanese people a third option" for the elections of August 2009. The HRP is the political wing of the conservative Happ ...

's youth division. * Kenji Utsunomiya - Lawyer. Former head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations from 2010 to 2012. * Shigenobu Yoshida - Former Japanese ambassador to

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

Campaign

Information campaign for the polls was administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Election Administration Commission.

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with ...

Minami Takahashi is a Japanese idol, singer, tarento and a former member of the Japanese girl idol group AKB48. She is in Team A of AKB48. She became the first of AKB48 and its sister groups. In an interview with Nippon Television in June 2010, AKB48 produc ...

Tomomi Itano is a Japanese recording artist, songwriter, dancer, model, and actress. She is a former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48. She was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. In 2011 she debuted solo with a single titled " Dear J", which wa ...

and

Yui Yokoyama Yui may refer to: People * Yui (name), a Japanese name *Yui (singer) (born 1987), Japanese singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actress * Yui people or Ibi, a Timucuan-speaking people in what now is Georgia, United States Places * Yui, Sh ...

(also of

NMB48 NMB48 (read "N.M.B. Forty-eight") is a Japanese idol group that debuted in 2011 as the second sister group to AKB48, produced by Yasushi Akimoto. NMB48 is named after the Namba district in Osaka city of Osaka Prefecture, where the group is based ...

) were appointed as image characters.

Result

The result was a landslide victory for Inose, who received 4,338,936 votes, setting a new record for the total number of votes in a Tokyo gubernatorial election. The previous record was 3.61 million cast for the socialist 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 ...

in 1971.

br>Inose wins landslide victory in Tokyo December 18, 2012
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokyo Gubernatorial Election, 2012

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

December 2012 events in Japan 2012 in Tokyo 2012 elections in Japan