Utter chaos reigns in the runup to the Tokyo gubernatorial election, the most important of all local elections to be held in April. The outcome of the preliminary battle is likely to have a great influence on national politics.
The battle began in early January, when Mitsuru Mikami of the Japanese Communist Party and former Upper House member Chimpei Nozue, an independent, announced their candidacies. Other aspirants and political parties were watching moves by Gov. Yukio Aoshima before plunging into the race, because the election results would largely depend on whether he would run.
On Feb. 1, Aoshima made the surprise announcement that he would not seek re-election, thereby throwing the race wide open. Kunio Hatoyama, deputy leader of the top opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, indicated his readiness to enter the race with the support of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation and citizens' groups. Hatoyama had been supportive of Aoshima's administration and was reluctant to enter the race if Aoshima was going to run. The governor's announcement gave a strong impetus to Hatoyama's candidacy in the DPJ and organized labor, which had been buzzing with speculation about the possible candidacies of several scholars and commentators. Then Yoichi Masuzoe, a scholar of international politics, announced his candidacy as an independent.