Ishihara easily wins reelection / Tokyo governor takes 4th term; DPJ suffers setback in local polls
Incumbent Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara comfortably beat 10 rivals to be reelected Sunday for a fourth four-year term.
Ishihara, a 78-year-old novelist-turned-politician, defeated high-profile challengers including former House of Councillors member Akira Koike; Miki Watanabe, founder of izakaya pub chain operator Watami Co.; and former Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru.
Ishihara ran as an independent but was effectively supported by the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito. The Democratic Party of Japan did not field a candidate due to recent poor public approval ratings for Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who is DPJ president. Watanabe, 51, was backed by Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly members of the DPJ.
The Japanese Communist Party endorsed Koike, 50. Seven other candidates also ran.
After he was assured of winning Sunday night, Ishihara said he would continue to enhance antidisaster measures during his fourth term, and suggested people should stop playing pachinko to conserve electricity.
"If you ask me what I would do after winning a fourth term, I would say I'll keep doing the same [as I have until now]," Ishihara said in his Tokyo office. "I'll strengthen our measures against disasters. Tokyo is Japan's driving force. If Tokyo comes to a halt, Japan will come to a halt as well.
"Japan won't survive unless we rein in our selfish desires and live more humbly. Let's get all Japanese people pushing in the same direction."
Voter turnout in the Tokyo election was 57.8 percent, 3.45 points higher than the previous election.
With 99 percent of votes counted, Ishihara had garnered 2,608,318 ballots to Higashikokubaru's 1,682,874. Watanabe had 1,002,909 votes and Koike 620,309.
Commenting on electricity shortages caused when the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant--a major power supplier for Tokyo and the Kanto region--was crippled during last month's earthquake and tsunami, Ishihara said Sunday evening, "No country other than Japan consumes nearly 10 million kilowatts for pachinko parlors and vending machines."
"This is equal to the Fukushima plant's power output, so we should correct such a lifestyle," he added. "I think the government should issue a decree to conserve power. People who play pachinko should be able to get by without it. We can live without vending machines."
In the 11 other gubernatorial races, all eight incumbents seeking reelection won.
Sunday's local elections represented a major setback for the DPJ, as it lost all the gubernatorial elections--for Tokyo, Hokkaido and Mie Prefecture--in which it squared off with the main opposition LDP.
Campaigning by the major candidates was relatively low-key. They refrained from vigorously appealing to voters amid a mood of self-restraint following the devastating March 11 disaster that left more than 13,000 people dead and almost 15,000 still unaccounted for.
During the campaign period, Ishihara mostly focused on his official duties as governor and worked on Tokyo's response to the events of March 11, rather than taking to the streets to seek voter support.
In Sunday's first round of the 17th unified local elections, the first held since the DPJ came to power in 2009, voting took place in 12 gubernatorial and 41 prefectural assembly races as well as mayoral elections in four ordinance-designated cities--Hiroshima, Shizuoka, Sagamihara and Sapporo--and assembly races in 15 ordinance-designated cities.
Many voters focused on disaster prevention and nuclear power policies in the wake of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture.
Due to severe damage caused by the March 11 disaster, Iwate Prefecture delayed its gubernatorial poll, and prefectural assembly races in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures were suspended. The Sendai assembly election was postponed.
In the race for the Kanagawa governorship, Yuji Kuroiwa, a 56-year-old former TV anchorman supported by local chapters of the DPJ, the LDP and New Komeito, won for the first time. He defeated Your Party-backed Junichi Tsuyuki, a 55-year-old former town mayor, and two other candidates.
In Hokkaido, incumbent Gov. Harumi Takahashi, 57, who was backed by the LDP, won a third term over Toshiaki Kimura, a 50-year-old former farm ministry bureaucrat supported by the DPJ, Social Democratic Party and People's New Party. Two other candidates ran.
Attention leading up to the Hokkaido election was focused on how voters would evaluate Takahashi's previous two terms in office and the candidates' plans to revitalize the region.
In Mie Prefecture, Eikei Suzuki, 36, who was backed by the LDP and Your Party, beat former Tsu Mayor Naohisa Matsuda, 56, supported by the DPJ, and Emi Okano, 58, of the JCP. It was the first win for Suzuki, who became the nation's youngest governor.
In Fukui Prefecture, home to 14 nuclear reactors--the most in the country--incumbent Gov. Issei Nishikawa, 66, won a third term over Kunihiro Uno, 59, of the JCP. During the campaign, Nishikawa, who was backed by the LDP and New Komeito, stressed nuclear power plants should be made safer in the wake of the accidents at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Uno called for an end to the country's dependence on nuclear energy.
In Shimane Prefecture, incumbent Gov. Zenbe Mizoguchi, 65, supported by the LDP and New Komeito, was elected to a second term, defeating JCP candidate Shinichi Mukose, 40.
In Saga Prefecture, incumbent Gov. Yasushi Furukawa, 52, backed by the LDP and New Komeito, won a third term over Masakatsu Hirabayashi, 63, of the JCP.
In Nara Prefecture, incumbent Gov. Shogo Arai, 66, won a second term, beating JCP-backed Shigekazu Kitano, 73, and Shunji Shiomi, 61, chairman of a local doctors association.
In Tottori Prefecture, incumbent Gov. Shinji Hirai, 49, won a second term, defeating JCP-backed Atsuko Yamanouchi, 68.
In Tokushima Prefecture, incumbent Gov. Kamon Iizumi, 50, captured a third term by beating Chiyoko Yamamoto, 62, of the JCP.
In Fukuoka Prefecture, Hiroshi Ogawa, 61, a former cabinet secretary for public relations who was backed by the DPJ, LDP and three other parties, defeated JCP-supported Takaaki Tamura, 49, a former Kitakyushu assembly member.
In Oita Prefecture, incumbent Gov. Katsusada Hirose, 68, supported by the SDP, secured a third term over JCP-backed Noboru Mieno, 72.
In Sapporo, incumbent Mayor Fumio Ueda, 62, backed by the DPJ, SDP and PNP, defeated LDP-backed Nana Honma, 41, for a third term.
In the Hiroshima mayoral election, Kazumi Matsui, 58, backed by the LDP and New Komeito, beat five other candidates.
In Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, incumbent Mayor Toshio Kayama, 66, was elected to a second term over two other candidates.
In the Shizuoka mayoral election, LDP-backed Nobuhiro Tanabe, 49, beat former upper house lawmaker Toru Unno, 61, and Nobuo Yasutake, a 64-year-old independent.
In Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, incumbent Mayor Yasutomo Suzuki, 53, was reelected uncontested. This was the first time a mayoral election in an ordinance-designated city had been decided without a vote.
In the Osaka prefectural assembly poll, Osaka Ishin no Kai (Osaka restoration group), a local political party led by Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto, was assured of becoming the largest party in the 109-seat assembly.
The second round of unified local elections--including mayoral and assembly polls in other cities, towns and villages, mayoral elections in 13 of Tokyo's 23 wards and assembly elections in 22 Tokyo wards--will be held April 24. A by-election for a House of Representatives seat in Aichi Constituency No. 6 also will be held that day.
__NOTOC__

Shintarō Ishihara, gobernador de Tokio.
 Japón realizó hoy la primera jornada de las elecciones regionales unificadas donde se eligieron a 13 gobernadores de prefecturas, 44 asambleas prefecturales, cinco alcaldes y 16 consejos de ciudades designadas por ordenanza gubernamental.

Esta elección regional supone un reto para el gobernante Partido Democrático de Japón tras su ascenso al poder en 2009 y son las primeras consultas tras el terremoto y tsunami que azotó hace un mes la región de Tohoku, al noreste del país.

Según las primeras proyecciones, el Partido Democrático (PDJ) ha sufrido un importante revés que ha aprovechado el opositor Partido Liberal Democrático (PLD).

Debido al desastre, las elecciones a gobernador en la prefectura de Iwate, las elecciones a las asambleas prefecturales de Iwate, Fukushima y Miyagi, y la elección a la asamblea local de la ciudad de Sendai fueron suspendidas.

=== Elecciones a gobernador ===

En Tokio, donde se desarrollaron las elecciones a gobernador, el incumbente gobernador Shintarō Ishihara consiguió su reelección y asumirá su cuarto período consecutivo. Ishihara, de 78 años y apoyado por el PLD y el Nuevo Komeito (NK), logró obtener 2.608.318 votos, superando al exgobernador de la prefectura de Miyazaki, Hideo Higashikokubaru (con 1.682.874 votos); al empresario Miki Watanabe, apoyado por el PDJ (1.002.909 votos), al diputado del Partido Comunista de Japón Akira Koike (620.309 votos) y a otros siete candidatos más.

En las primeras declaraciones tras su victoria, Ishihara recalcó que continuará con las medidas antidesastre y ha pedido al público que evite divertirse y racione la electricidad. Durante la campaña, Ishihara fue objeto de una polémica al declarar que el desastre en Japón era un "castigo divino" sobre el pueblo japonés que lo consideró como "egoísta", aunque tras las críticas decidió retractarse.

En las otras prefecturas, ocho de los gobernadores que buscaban la reelección lograron su cometido. Entre ellos la gobernadora de Hokkaido Harumi Takahashi (PLD), el gobernador de la prefectura de Fukui Issei Nishikawa (PLD y NK), el gobernador de la prefectura de Shimane Zenbe Mizoguchi (PLD y NK), el gobernador de la prefectura de Saga Yasushi Furukawa (PLD y NK), el gobernador de la prefectura de Nara Shogo Arai, el gobernador de la prefectura de Tottori Shinji Hirai, el gobernador de la prefectura de Tokushima Kamon Iizumi y el gobernador de la prefectura de Oita Katsusada Hirose (Partido Socialdemócrata de Japón).

En la prefectura de Mie, Eikei Suzuki, quien tenía el apoyo del PLD y del Minna no To logró obtener la gobernación al vencer a Naohisa Matsuda (PDJ) y a Emi Okano del Partido Comunista. Suzuki, con 36 años, se convierte en el gobernador más joven de Japón. Mientras que en la prefectura de Fukuoka, Hiroshi Ogawa, candidato que recibió el consenso del PLD y PDJ venció al candidato del Partido Comunista, Takaaki Tamura.

=== Elecciones a alcalde ===

En la ciudad de Sapporo, el actual alcalde Fumio Ueda, apoyado por el PDJ, Partido Socialdemócrata y el Nuevo Partido del Pueblo, venció a Nana Honma (PLD). En la ciudad de Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui (PLD y NK) venció con facilidad a otros cinco candidatos.

En Sagamihara, el actual alcalde Toshio Kayama fue reelecto, venciendo a dos candidatos. En la ciudad de Shizuoka, Nobuhiro Tanabe (PLD), venció a dos candidatos.

En Hamamatsu, el actual alcalde Yasutomo Suzuki fue reelecto sin ningún oponente. Es la primera vez que en una ciudad designada por ordenanza gubernamental, un alcalde obtiene la victoria sin realizar una votación.

=== Segunda ronda ===

La segunda ronda de las elecciones regionales se realizará el domingo 24 de abril, donde se elegirán alcaldes de 88 ciudades, 13 de los 23 barrios de Tokio, 132 pueblos y villas; y elecciones a las asambleas locales de 305 ciudades, 22 de los 23 barrios de Tokio y 404 pueblos y villas. Adicionalmente se realizará una elección especial para un escaño en la Cámara de Representantes (6º distrito de la prefectura de Aichi).