Toru Hashimoto's Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) and his opponents in the established parties saw mixed results from Sunday's prefectural and municipal assembly elections, but the Osaka mayor insisted Monday he will continue to look forward, not backward.
"Since forming Osaka Ishin, we've done lot of things today's voters don't like. But it's not just about saying nice things at election time. For the future, you have to do things people today don't like," Hashimoto said.
Nationwide, the local elections were widely seen as a referendum on the politics of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, especially his "Abenomics" economic program and regional revitalization polices — which have been criticized as little more than throwing money to the provinces to buy votes via public works' projects.