Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara was returned Sunday for a fourth four-year term, while fellow incumbent Harumi Takahashi, who was also backed by the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, was re-elected to a third term in Hokkaido, early vote counts and media projections showed.
The gubernatorial races were just two of a slew of local elections that were held across Japan the same day.
In other gubernatorial elections Sunday, incumbents Issei Nishikawa in Fukui, Shinji Hirai in Tottori, Zembei Mizoguchi in Shimane, Kamon Iizumi in Tokushima, Yasushi Furukawa in Saga, and Katsusada Hirose in Oita also won, early vote counts showed.