Tokyo’s First Female Governor Driving Changes in the Land of the Rising Sun

Former Japanese defense minister Yuriko Koike became the first woman to hold the post of the governor of Tokyo, one of the largest cities in the world. She received 2,912,000 votes. All in all, more than 20 candidates vied for the position as the head of the Japanese capital.

Sunday's gubernatorial election was the fourth since 2011, and essentially it was a race of three leaders. Yuriko Koike was confronted by the former internal affairs minister Hiroya Masuda, backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and the journalist and public figure Shuntaro Torigoe, the only candidate of the left-wing forces. Tokyo's previous mayor Yoichi Masuzoe resigned over misuse of public funds.

Koike's popularity could be obviously explained by the fact that she promised a new era of "pure" politics, and one of the main points on her program was the development of the education system and kindergartens. Using the potential of Japanese women through their full support has been for a long time inscribed in the manifesto on her personal website. According to the voters' opinion, a woman can handle this task better than a man.

In addition, the new governor will also have to provide preparations for the Olympic Games 2020. Therefore, one of the first things Koike might do in her new position is organize a trip to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she would represent the city hosting the next Games. The Tokyo Olympics are considered a decisive factor in the recovery of the Japanese economy, which is the world's third by volume but has remained in a state of stagnation more than for a decade.

Some media wrote that Yuriko Koike's rise to power fits into the era of women's dominance in politics and coincides with the slogan of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, calling for appointing more women to high positions. Valery Kistanov, the director of the Center for Japanese Research at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute for Far East Studies, told Sputnik in an interview that Koike challenged the ruling party, of which she is a member herself:

"The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDPJ) supported another candidate; therefore, Koike's victory is symbolic, as it reflects the turnaround in public opinion of voters who are disappointed in the earlier chapters of Tokyo's prefecture."

"As is known, the two previous governors left their post after the financial scandals. It is important. Besides, many social problems remained unsolved for years, and the budget allocation was not always transparent and following the public interests. In this regard, the voters have placed great hopes on her to ‘cleanse' politics of corruption. However, will the LDPJ support her now?" the expert said.

"Tokyo is the center of political, financial, economic life, and it has a whole bunch of problems. And while the public policy is determined by the government, the policy of the governor is very significant as well. Koike is not new to politics: she was a member of both Houses of Parliament, held ministerial positions, including the post of defense minister. And now she will try to implement her views as governor."

"Koike takes quite a tough stance towards Russia, fully supports the Japan-US alliance, and it will not be a surprise if she supports the course of the revision of the Constitution," Kistanov told Sputnik.

Japanese bloggers, who are not excited about the new governor, express their fears of this kind, too. At the same time, Koike claimed that she is aware of "the whole burden of responsibility for the elections' results" and intends to get serious about his new position. Koike-san repeatedly named US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as her role model.