KOBE -- Kobe-based activists who had worked with former Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka as volunteers helping this city following the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake are lending support to his re-election bid in the Sept. 1 gubernatorial race.
The Kobe activists say the race for the governorship of relatively distant Nagano Prefecture is not just another local election, but a major test of whether Japan's democracy is functioning.
"If Tanaka wins, it will spell defeat for the anti-Tanaka forces, who are in the minority, and show that the will of the majority cannot be subverted," said Kenji Tojo, a campaigner against the controversial Kobe airport project.