Official campaigning for the Nagoya mayoral election started Sunday, with incumbent Takashi Kawamura facing three challengers.
The April 25 contest will effectively be a fight between Kawamura, 72, and his primary challenger, Toshiaki Yokoi, 59, a former city assembly member backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its coalition partner Komeito, the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the Democratic Party for the People.
The focus is how voters will evaluate Kawamura's 12 years in charge of the city, during which he has pursued policies such as cuts in the municipal income tax and projects like the restoration of Nagoya Castle's main concrete tower to its original wooden state.