Naomichi Suzuki walked away from a stable job at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government last month, deciding he'd rather run for mayor of a bankrupt city in Hokkaido.
The decision to try to lead the resurrection of Yubari didn't come easy, and it was an ardent request from a group of the city's young people that moved the 29-year-old Suzuki to declare his candidacy.
A native of Saitama, Suzuki had no affiliation with Yubari until he spent two years there through last March, on loan from Tokyo.