History shows cities that flourish due to maritime trade have a reputation for some of the world's most colorful, complex, and corrupt local politics. That includes the port of Osaka, which was trading with China and the Korean Peninsula more than 1,000 years ago.
So whatever else the April 7 elections might mean, there's no doubt Osaka's modern politics are at least colorful and complex.
But corrupt? Well, nobody is complaining about stuffed ballot boxes, voter intimidation, or hanging chads in the elections that saw the governor and mayor swap seats and their Osaka Ishin no Kai (One Osaka) followers score a majority in the prefectural assembly while coming up just short in the municipal assembly. There is no reason to view it as anything other than an election won fair and square by Osaka Ishin.