Nippon Ishin stole the spotlight in local elections across Japan on Sunday, scoring decisive wins in its Osaka home base that further strengthened the party’s local presence and is likely to impact its relationship on the national stage with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito bloc.
Osaka incumbent Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura defeated his main rival, Mayumi Taniguchi, a political novice, while in the mayoral race, Hideyuki Yokoyama defeated Taeko Kitano, a former LDP Osaka city councilwoman. Both Taniguchi and Kitano ran without official party backing.
In addition, Nippon Ishin won a majority of seats in both the prefectural and municipal assemblies for the first time ever. It heads into the second round of local elections on April 23 with the wind at its back and on its way to meeting its pre-election target, said Masato Kamikubo, a political scientist at Ritsumeikan University.