Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike has finally thrown her hat in the ring, declaring on Wednesday her intent to run for a third term as governor in the upcoming Tokyo gubernatorial election just a week before campaigning kicks off.

The announcement on the last day of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly session came after weeks of anticipation during which the 71-year-old incumbent has been in a “secret running” mode, or essentially starting campaigning without officially declaring her candidacy.

“For the people of Tokyo, I want to make Tokyo better — taking in support from others who share these same feelings, I am determined to carry out an upgraded, Tokyo reform 3.0,” Koike said. “With this determination I have decided to run for the Tokyo gubernatorial election in July.”

She emphasized her past eight years of work as governor, fighting against COVID-19 and hosting the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games during a pandemic without any spectators.

Koike said she plans to disclose more details on her platform in the near future, although as an incumbent, she added that the policies she proposes on a daily basis is tantamount to a campaign promise.

Last month, Komeito and Tomin First no Kai, Koike's regional party, as well as the heads of 52 wards and municipalities in Tokyo urged her to run for reelection. The Tokyo chapter of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) also showed its willingness to back her up in the upcoming election.

With Koike officially in the running, the gubernatorial election is looking to be a highly competitive one, with the highest number of candidates in history — over 40 as of Wednesday — having already announced their intention to contest.

Among the prospective candidates, Koike’s biggest competition is likely to be 56-year-old opposition lawmaker Renho, who caused a buzz among Tokyo voters and political watchers when she declared her candidacy two weeks ago.

One of a handful of high-profile female politicians, Renho is serving her fourth term in the Upper House. On Wednesday, she submitted a notification to leave her party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), to run as an independent, as is customary among candidates in gubernatorial elections to garner support from a wider range of residents.

“I am the challenger, so I would like to take this on whilst learning the composure and strength of the incumbent,” Renho told reporters later in the day.

Renho's promises of a future of "anti-LDP and non-Koike" policies in the capital could make it difficult for the incumbent governor to top the over 3 million votes that she secured in the previous election in 2020.

“Koike's popularity was probably highest three years ago during COVID-19 when she was in the news every day,” explains Kenneth McElwain, a comparative politics professor at the University of Tokyo. “But I think that advantage has faded quite significantly at this point.”

Controversies surrounding Koike, such as allegations that she falsified her academic records from Cairo University and criticisms over the Meiji Jingu Gaien district’s redevelopment plans, will most likely be scrutinized as well.

It will be up to Tokyo residents to evaluate her work during her two terms in office — which spanned the pandemic as well as the Tokyo Olympics — and decide if they want to see more of it.

Official election campaigning kicks off on June 20, with polling day set for July 7.

Other notable candidates in the gubernatorial race include Shinji Ishimaru, the 41-year-old mayor of the city of Akitakata in Hiroshima Prefecture, and the 75-year-old former Chief of Staff of the Air Self-Defense Force, Toshio Tamogami.