OSAKA — Kunio Hiramatsu, who beat incumbent Junichi Seki in Sunday's mayoral poll in what is seen as a stunning defeat for the ruling coalition, vowed to reform the city government but offered no specific steps to remedy the city's ballooning debts.
"A new Osaka has been born," Hiramatsu, 59, who was backed by the Democratic Party of Japan, told reporters Monday morning. Later in the day, he received a certificate of his victory at City Hall.
He will be officially sworn in Dec. 19.