Fukushima governor race opens with record seven candidates as Uchibori seeks fourth term

Official campaigning for the Fukushima prefectural governor election, held because the governor's term is expiring, began on October 8. Yomiuri Shimbun reported that by 9 a.m. seven candidates had filed: incumbent Masao Uchibori, 62, who is seeking a fourth term, and six newcomers. Voting and counting are set for October 25. Yomiuri and Nippon TV News described the field as the largest on record. [ 1 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]

In order of filing, Yomiuri listed the candidates as Kanayama, 86; Uchibori; Tomoko Oyamada, 33, a member of the Japanese Communist Party's prefectural standing committee; Tsukakoshi, 51, a landscaper; Endo, 41, a former prefectural government employee; Fujimoto, 61; and Hasenuma, 59. Oyamada is running as the Communist Party's official candidate, and the other six filed as independents. Yomiuri and Mainichi Shimbun described three of the candidates' backgrounds differently. Yomiuri called Kanayama a former equipment installation contractor, Fujimoto a former employee of a space-related company and Hasenuma a former industrial waste processor. Mainichi called them, in turn, the head of a horse-riding school, a former swimming instructor and self-employed. [ 6 , 7 ]

Mainichi reported that Uchibori is backed by local organisations of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party for the People, the Constitutional Democratic Party and Komeito, and has made advancing reconstruction and countering population decline his main policies. Oyamada is calling for a shift away from what she called a "cold prefectural administration that does whatever the national government says", and supports ending nuclear power and helping young people and families raising children, Mainichi said. [ 7 ]

According to Mainichi, Kanayama is calling for Japan's capital to be moved to Koriyama, and Tsukakoshi wants to expand the renewable energy industry. Endo is focusing on industrial development built on local strengths, Fujimoto on stopping the incumbent from serving more terms, and Hasenuma on building a new nuclear power plant in the prefecture. [ 7 ]

Yomiuri said the assessment of the current administration, now in its third four-year term, is a main issue. Mainichi said that 15 years after the Great East Japan Earthquake and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, the race is likely to turn on voters' view of an administration that has led reconstruction since the disaster. [ 6 , 7 ]

Nippon TV News reported that on October 7 workers in Fukushima City were assembling ballot boxes and writing booths for early voting, which runs from October 9 to October 24. Voters without an admission ticket can still vote by filling in a declaration form at the polling station. Nobuyuki Kanno, deputy director of the Fukushima City election board secretariat, urged residents to vote, calling it an important election in which their views can be reflected. [ 3 ]