The campaign for the Osaka gubernatorial election, which takes place Nov. 22 along with the mayoral election, kicked off Thursday with three candidates.
Incumbent Gov. Ichiro Matsui, 51, supported by the local political group Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka), is seeking re-election by vowing to once again push to integrate the city and prefecture after an Osaka Ishin-backed referendum on that issue failed in May.
Matsui's main opponent is Takako Kurihara, 53, a former prefectural assemblywoman backed by the Liberal Democratic Party who has the informal support of the Japan Communist Party and the Democratic Party of Japan. She opposes Matsui's integration plan but favors cutting redundant bureaucratic functions.
A third candidate, Yukinori Mima, 65, is running as an independent without backing from any of the major parties.
Komeito, which backs Osaka Ishin in the prefectural and municipal assemblies on other issues, opposed Osaka Ishin's efforts to consolidate the city into five semiautonomous wards. Komeito, however, is not officially backing anyone in either election and has told voters to cast their ballots as they please.
Recent polls show Matsui leading Kurihara, with Mima the dark horse candidate.
In the mayoral campaign, Hashimoto's hand-picked successor, former Diet member Hirofumi Yoshimura, 40, is squaring off against former LDP city assemblyman Akira Yanagimoto, 41, the face of the anti-merger movement last spring. Yanagimoto also has the support of all established parties.