Japan Press Weekly

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2015 November 18 - 24 [POLITICS]

Anti-Osaka Ishin no Kai candidates put up good fight in Osaka elections

In the elections for Osaka governor and Osaka City mayor on November 22, candidates challenging “Osaka Ishin no Kai”, the regional party of autocratic mayor Hashimoto Toru, put up a great battle but were short of winning the races.

It was the “Hashimoto Ishin versus anti-Ishin citizens” setup in both elections.

The governor-elect is incumbent Matsui Ichiro, secretary-general of Osaka Ishin no Kai. The mayor-elect, Hashimoto’s successor, is Yoshimura Hirofumi, former Japan Innovation Party (“Ishin no To” or JIP) Dietmember.

The Japanese Communist Party supported independent Kurihara Takako, former Osaka prefectural assemlyperson of the Liberal Democratic Party, and independent Yanagimoto Akira, former Osaka City assemblyperson of the LDP, in the gubernatorial and mayoral elections, respectively.

During the election campaigns, the JCP worked hard to restore democracy and local autonomy to Osaka citizens by putting an end to the despotic handling of the Osaka administration by the Hashimoto Ishin.

Osaka Ishin no Kai again brought up Hashimoto’s “Osaka metropolis” plan as a key campaign issue although the plan to divide up Osaka City was once rejected in the referendum in May. In reality, Ishin-held Osaka has reduced budgets related to people’s livelihoods but it presented itself as a reformist party representing taxpayers. It fueled divisions among Osakans by using anti-communist propaganda claiming that Osaka would be under the control of a JCP-LDP coalition.

Past related articles:
> JCP will support anti-Hashimoto candidate in Osaka gubernatorial race [October 16, 2015]
> JCP in Osaka will back an independent in city mayoral election [October 6, 2015]