The 2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election took place on February 9, 2014 to replace outgoing Governor
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 resigned effective December 24, 2013.
Yōichi Masuzoe was declared the winner in exit polling, with a substantial lead over the fifteen other candidates. His final tally was 2,112,979 votes (42.86%), with his two closest competitors
Morihiro Hosokawa
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994. He led an eight-party coalition government which was the first Japanese government not headed by a Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Libera ...
and
Kenji Utsunomiya
is a Japanese lawyer and former chair of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
Overviews
He spent much of his career helping debtors overcome the burden of multiple loans. He was the head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations from 2 ...
failing to break the 20% mark.
Total turnout was 4,930,251 (46.14%), significantly lower than the 62.6% turnout in the
2012 election.
Background
Tokyo governor
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." ...
abruptly resigned in December 2013 following a month-long investigation into a political funds scandal. His resignation came in the midst of various preparations for the
2020 Summer Olympics
The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
, which had been awarded to Tokyo earlier in the year, including the formation of an organization committee (due by February 2014), the allocation of 10.3 billion yen in Olympics-related funding, and negotiation with the national government over the construction of the new
National Olympic Stadium.
The election campaign was set to officially begin on January 23, 2014
and was one of three critical electoral tests for the ruling
Liberal Democratic Party
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...
in early 2014, along with the January 19 mayoral election in
Nago, Okinawa
is a city located in the northern part of Okinawa Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of December 2012, the city has an estimated population of 61,659 and a population density of 293 persons per km2. Its total area is 210.30 km2.
Ge ...
(widely viewed as a referendum on the relocation plan of
Marine Corps Air Station Futenma), in which the incumbent mayor, who is against the plan, was re-elected, and the late February gubernatorial election in
Yamaguchi Prefecture
is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...
.
Yoichi Masuzoe was initially seen as the strongest candidate in the race due to his popularity and support from the LDP. In mid-January, former Prime Minister
Morihiro Hosokawa
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994. He led an eight-party coalition government which was the first Japanese government not headed by a Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Libera ...
emerged as a second strong candidate with the backing of former LDP Prime Minister
Junichirō Koizumi
Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 200 ...
, with his platform focusing on opposition to the restart of
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...
generation in Japan.
Prime Minister
Shinzō Abe
Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. He was the longest-serving pri ...
stated his concern that the campaign would focus on the nuclear issue at the expense of other issues. Masuzoe, who supported a gradual phase-out of nuclear power, stated that "choosing the Tokyo governor based (solely) on whether they favor or oppose nuclear power seems odd."
Masuzoe was endorsed by the LDP and
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 ...
, while Hosokawa was endorsed by the
Democratic Party of Japan
The was a Centrism, centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist:
*
*
*
*
*
*
* to Centre-left politics, centre-left, Liberalism, liberal or Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Japan, ...
,
People's Life Party
The was a political party in Japan that merged with the Democratic Party For the People on 26 April 2019. It had 2 out of the 475 seats in the House of Representatives, and 3 in the 242-member House of Councillors prior to merging. Formed as t ...
and
Unity Party (Japan)
The was a Japanese political party.
History
The party was formed in December 2013 by Kenji Eda and 13 other legislators who left Your Party. Your Party initially refused to acknowledge that six councillors had left its caucus in the House of C ...
, and the
Social Democratic Party of Japan
The is a political party in Japan that was established in 1996. Since its reformation and name change in 1996, it has advocated pacifism and defined itself as a social-democratic party. It was previously known as the .
The party was re-founded ...
and
Japanese Communist Party
The is a communist party in Japan. Founded in 1922, it is the oldest political party in the country. It has 250,000 members as of January 2024, making it one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party is chaired ...
endorsed former Japan Federation of Bar Associations president
Kenji Utsunomiya
is a Japanese lawyer and former chair of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
Overviews
He spent much of his career helping debtors overcome the burden of multiple loans. He was the head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations from 2 ...
.
There were 10.8 million eligible voters, a new all-time high. Of these, 7.4 million lived in special wards, 3.3 million in cities, less than 0.1 million in the towns and villages in West Tama and on the islands. In the first three days of early voting (possible from the day after the official campaign start), turnout increased tenfold compared to the same period in the previous gubernatorial election of 2012; but in 2012, the national House of Representatives election was held together with the gubernatorial election, and the legal campaign period for Representatives elections is twelve days – five days less than in elections for prefectural governors, so many early voters in 2012 waited until the official start of the lower house campaign to cast their ballots in both elections. Compared to the 2011 gubernatorial election when no national election was held simultaneously, turnout in the first three days of early voting increased by 60%. A blizzard struck eastern Japan on the day before the election, bringing the most snow seen in Tokyo in two decades. Residual snow on the streets impacted voter turnout on election day.
On the remote island of
Haha-jima in
Ogasawara village, the election was held one day earlier than in the rest of Tokyo ''(kuriage-tōhyō)'', i.e. the election day is February 8.
Polling
A poll conducted shortly after Hosokawa's announcement, as reported by the Sankei-affiliated news site ''ZAKZAK'', showed that 40% of Tokyo voters supported Masuzoe, 16% supported Hosokawa, 15% supported Utsunomiya and 6% supported Tamogami. Masuzoe maintained the lead over Hosokawa, Utsunomiya and Tamogami in four separate polls conducted January 23–24 by Mainichi Shimbun, Kyodo News, Sankei Shimbun and Fuji Television. This ranking remained unchanged in a February 1–2 polling by Mainichi, although 30% of voters remained undecided. These outlets refrained from disclosing actual poll numbers in order to comply with Japanese election laws.
An electoral simulation by the LDP in January, as reported by the weekly magazine ''Shukan Post'', resulted in 42% voting for Hosokawa, 39% for Masuzoe, 10% for Utsunomiya and 7% for Tamogami, assuming a typical turnout of their respective supporting bases (around 55% of the total electorate), with the caveat that a large turnout by anti-nuclear supporters could tip the balance further against Masuzoe.
Result
Kenji Himeji, Masaichi Igarashi, Hiroshi Kaneko, Chikanori Matsuyama, Tomoharu Nakagawa, Hisao Naito, Takashi Negami, Eiichi Sato and Tatsuo Suzuki also appeared on the ballot but won less than 5,000 votes each. 1.24% of votes were invalid.
Exit polls by the ''
Asahi Shimbun
is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan.
The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...
'' found that Masuzoe was the most popular candidate in each age segment but had particularly strong support from elderly voters, winning 55% of voters in the 70+ age range versus 36% of voters in their twenties and 38% of voters in their thirties. Tamogami polled strongest among voters in their twenties, gaining 24% of the vote in this age range, but his support among voters in the 60+ age range was in single digits. Hosokawa was second-ranked among voters in their forties, fifties and sixties while Utsunomiya was second-ranked among voters in their thirties and seventies.
Voter turnout was highest in the remote island villages of
Mikurajima
is an inhabited volcanic Japanese island in the Pacific Ocean. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Izu Shotō'',"''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 412. The island is administered by Tōkyō Metropolis and is located approximately south of Tokyo a ...
(80.16%) and
Aogashima (75.00%), and lowest in the western suburb of
Mizuho
Mizuho () literally means "abundant rice" in Japanese and "harvest" in the figurative sense. It was also an Names of Japan#Other names, ancient name of Japan. It might refer to:
Places
* Mizuho, Gifu, a city in Gifu
* Mizuho, Tokyo, a town in To ...
(35.61%).
Candidates
There were sixteen candidates in the race, fifteen of whom ran as independents (
Mac Akasaka was the only candidate claiming a party affiliation).
*
Yoichi Masuzoe, former Health and Welfare Minister, entered the race as an independent with the support of the
Liberal Democratic Party
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...
and
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 ...
.
he also enjoys widespread support within the
Democratic Party of Japan
The was a Centrism, centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist:
*
*
*
*
*
*
* to Centre-left politics, centre-left, Liberalism, liberal or Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Japan, ...
and was endorsed by the Tokyo chapter of
RENGO
Rengo is a city and commune located in the Zona Central of Chile, situated in the Cachapoal Province of the O'Higgins Region at a distance of south of the city of Rancagua and south of the national capital Santiago. It was named after the c ...
. The DPJ considered backing Masuzoe instead of standing their own candidate; the LDP was highly critical of Masuzoe for leaving the LDP in 2010 to start his own party, but backed him "because there was no other candidate that could win".
Shigeru Uchida, head of the LDP delegation in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly, had urged the party to avoid endorsing another "celebrity candidate", expressing a preference for a candidate with administrative experience, while Prime Minister and LDP President
Shinzō Abe
Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. He was the longest-serving pri ...
said he emphasized name recognition. Voices within the party supported Masuzoe as a compromise between both considerations.
The LDP national executive declared three criteria for adoption as its candidate in the race as: (i) an international outlook; (ii) an ardent supporter of the Tokyo 2020 Games; and iii) capability to have a trustworthy relationship with the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. He was previously a candidate in the
1999 gubernatorial election, where he won over 830,000 votes.
*
Kenji Utsunomiya
is a Japanese lawyer and former chair of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
Overviews
He spent much of his career helping debtors overcome the burden of multiple loans. He was the head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations from 2 ...
, an
attorney who came in second behind Inose in the
2012 gubernatorial election, was the first person to formally declare his candidacy,
and called for providing a check against Prime Minister
Shinzō Abe
Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. He was the longest-serving pri ...
, closing all nuclear plants, restricting spending on the Olympics and making Tokyo "a secure city where people can live and work". After the emergence of Hosokawa's candidacy, former Prime Minister
Naoto Kan
is a Japanese former politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from June 2010 to September 2011.
Kan was the first Prime Minister since the resignation of Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 to ...
called on Utsunomiya to leave the race out of fears that he would split the anti-nuclear vote in Tokyo. Utsunomiya stated that he would like to have an in-depth policy discussion with Hosokawa but would not back down from his campaign.

*
Morihiro Hosokawa
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994. He led an eight-party coalition government which was the first Japanese government not headed by a Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Libera ...
, former Prime Minister, decided to run on a platform of eliminating nuclear power in Japan, reducing energy consumption and overhauling the welfare system. Former LDP Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi
Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ...
reportedly pressed Hosokawa to run on an anti-nuclear platform, and stood next to Hosokawa as he announced his candidacy. Although Tokyoites were overwhelmingly in favor of a phase-out of nuclear power, Hosokawa's age (76 at the time of the election) and minimal contact with Tokyo, as well as the circumstances surrounding his resignation as prime minister in 1994, were potential clouds to his candidacy.
*
Toshio Tamogami, retired General and former Chief of Staff of the
Japan Air Self-Defense Force
The , , also referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the Aerial warfare, air and space warfare, space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and ...
, entered the race as an independent with the support of former Governor
Shintaro Ishihara
was a Japanese politician and writer, who served as the Governor of Tokyo Metropolis, Governor of Tokyo from 1999 to 2012. Being the former leader of the Far-right politics, radical right Sunrise Party, later merged with Toru Hashimoto's Japan ...
and several other members of the
Japan Restoration Party
The , also referred to in English as the Japan Restoration Association, was a Japanese political party. It was launched on 12 September 2012 and gained official recognition on 28 September 2012. The party grew from the regional Osaka Restoration A ...
(although not the party itself.)
He was previously approached by the Liberal Democratic Party to run in the
2010 House of Councillors election but turned down their request. His platform calls for strengthening disaster countermeasures in Tokyo through cooperation with the SDF. He is known as a nationalist figure, arguing that Japan was not an aggressor during World War II and supporting official visits to
Yasukuni Shrine
is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded by Emperor Meiji in June 1869 and commemorates those who died in service of Empire of Japan, Japan, from the Boshin War of 1868–1869, to the two Sino-Japanese Wars, First Sino-Japane ...
; his views led to his removal as JASDF Chief of Staff in 2008.
*
Kazuma Ieiri, founder of several internet start-up companies, announced his candidacy after soliciting 1,000 retweets on
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
. He proposed an open platform for citizens to decide policy for the Tokyo government.
*
Yoshiro Nakamatsu
, also known as , is a Japanese inventor. He regularly appears on Japanese talk shows demonstrating his inventions.
Creative process
In some interviews, Nakamatsu has described his "creativity process", which includes listening to music and con ...
, a celebrity inventor and
perennial candidate
A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...
popularly known as Dr. NakaMats, entered the race as an independent. The 2014 election is his seventh campaign for governor of Tokyo.
*
Mac Akasaka,
perennial candidate
A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...
and leader of the Smile Party, announced he would enter the race after an outpouring of comments on Twitter urging him to run. He previously ran in the
2012 gubernatorial election.
Others considered to be candidates
The LDP considered a number of candidates prior to endorsing Masuzoe, conducting a private telephone poll in December 2013 which named Masuzoe, former TV comedian and Miyazaki Prefecture governor
Hideo Higashikokubaru and LDP legislators
Nobuteru Ishihara
is a Japanese politician, who served as the Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2010 to 2012. Previously, he also served in the House of Representatives as representative from 1990 to 2021.
Early life and career
Ishihara was ...
,
Satsuki Katayama,
Yuriko Koike
Yuriko Koike (小池 百合子, Koike Yuriko; born 15 July 1952) is a Japanese politician who has served as the Governor of Tokyo since 2016. Previously, she was also served as a member of the House of Councillors from 1992 to 1993, a member o ...
and
Tamayo Marukawa
Tamayo Marukawa (丸川 珠代, ''Marukawa Tamayo'', born 19 January 1971) is a Japanese politician and former announcer of TV Asahi, who served as a member of the House of Councillors from 2007 to 2024. She is a member of the Liberal Democrat ...
.
Higashikokubaru came in second to Masuzoe,
but on January 10 he stated that he had "2,000%" "no scheme, plan, or intention" to run.
Hakubun Shimomura and
Seiko Hashimoto
is a Japanese politician, former speed skater and track cyclist. She has the most Olympic appearances of any Japanese athlete except Noriaki Kasai, representing her native country in four consecutive Winter Olympics from 1984 to 1994 and in ...
were also rumored to be potential LDP candidates, but were excluded from consideration by the party due to existing duties related to the 2020 Summer Olympics and
2014 Winter Olympics
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...
respectively.
Akira Ikegami, a television journalist, was also included in the LDP poll,
but said that he had no interest in running and that he had already agreed to cover the election for the
Tokyo MX
JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...
television station. Hiroshi Sato, former Vice Governor of Tokyo, was approached by LDP lawmakers in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly but declined to run.
Saburō Kawabuchi, former head coach of the
Japan national football team
The , also known by the nickname , represents Japan in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Japan Football Association (JFA), the governing body for football in Japan.
Prior to the late 1980s, Japan's nat ...
, was reported in December 2013 to be a compromise candidate between
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Shinzō Abe and former Governor Shintaro Ishihara, with his athletic background being viewed as an advantage in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics. Abe and Ishihara eventually endorsed Masuzoe and Tamogami respectively.
The DPJ approached baseball player
Atsuya Furuta
Atsuya Furuta (古田 敦也, b. August 6, 1965) is a Japanese former baseball player and player-manager for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows professional baseball club in the Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Drafted in the 2nd round in ...
and journalist
Shuntaro Torigoe, both of whom refused to run.
Renhō Murata, former State Minister of Government Revitalization, was widely viewed as a likely candidate from the DPJ.
Antonio Inoki
(born ; 20 February 1943 – 1 October 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling trainer, martial arts, martial artist, politician, and Promoter (entertainment), promot ...
, a professional wrestler and Diet member, was reportedly considering announcing his candidacy. He had been suspended from the
Japan Restoration Party
The , also referred to in English as the Japan Restoration Association, was a Japanese political party. It was launched on 12 September 2012 and gained official recognition on 28 September 2012. The party grew from the regional Osaka Restoration A ...
following an unauthorized November 2013 visit to North Korea, and was reportedly planning to decide whether to resign from the Diet to run for governor following his return from a second visit to North Korea in January 2014.
Junichirō Koizumi
Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 200 ...
, former Prime Minister and nuclear power critic, declined to run after reportedly being approached by
Yoshimi Watanabe
is a former Japanese politician. He was formerly a member of the Liberal Democratic Party and later the founder of Your Party, after which he became a member of Nippon Ishin no Kai until 2019 when he then became an independent politician. He wa ...
of
Your Party
is a Japanese parliamentary caucus consisting of Yoshimi Watanabe and Takashi Tachibana, later Satoshi Hamada after Tachibana forfeited his seat, in the House of Councillors. It was also a political party led by Watanabe from 2009 until its ...
.
Setsuo Yamaguchi, a real estate appraiser and head of a political organization, planned to run on a platform of revising the plans for rebuilding the
National Olympic Stadium. This would be his third run for governor of Tokyo, his last appearance being in the
2007 election in which he received 0.06% of the total votes cast.
He withdrew from the race on January 8 citing a lack of funds.
Shigenobu Yoshida, former Japanese ambassador to
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
, also briefly entered the race as an independent on a platform of reducing the budget for the Olympics. He previously ran in the
2012 election in which he received 1.23% of the total votes cast.
References
{{Tokyo elections
Tokyo gubernatorial elections
2014 elections in Japan
February 2014 in Japan
2014 in Tokyo