Toru Hashimoto and his Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) group looked set to retain their position as the largest political party in the Osaka municipal and prefectural chambers following Sunday's unified local elections.
With the votes still being counted Sunday night, exit polls from Kyodo and NHK were predicting Osaka Ishin would remain the largest party in the 86-seat municipal assembly, where it held 29 seats prior to the election.
The only issue of the campaign was whether voters would send Osaka Ishin and its plan to integrate the city's 24 wards into five semiautonomous wards a message of support. A referendum on that issue will be held on May 17.