The Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly has enacted a bylaw limiting a governor to three consecutive terms in office, or 12 years. It will not take effect, though, until the central government places a limit on the number of times a person can be elected as governor or mayor, by revising the Local Autonomy Law, for example.

This is the first such bylaw, although nine local autonomous bodies, including Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo's Suginami Ward, have bylaws calling on governors and mayors to voluntarily refrain from seeking re-election more than three times.

The idea of prohibiting a person from serving as governor for a number of terms is not new. The arrest last year of the Fukushima governor in his fifth term, in connection with a bid-rigging scandal, rekindled a call for such a prohibition. Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa of Kanagawa Prefecture, who proposed the bylaw, was re-elected last April for a second term on a political platform that included a proposed restriction.

At first, the idea met resistance from people who thought that prohibiting multiple terms infringed on the constitutionally guaranteed freedom to choose one's occupation. After the Fukushima governor was arrested, a study group was set up within the internal affairs ministry, which went on to present an opinion favorable to the idea of capping the number of terms in office.

The ministry said such a prohibition would help uphold the spirit of the Constitution by serving as a rational means to limit the power of a local government head. It also said that such prohibition would give voters a larger choice of policy options by ensuring competition in an election.

Still, some governors oppose the Kanagawa bylaw. They say voters can determine whether a person seeking another term is worthy of re-election by scrutinizing their job performance and opinions. Wide public discussion is needed to determine whether the central government should produce a bill allowing term limits. If such a bill is drawn up, it should not impose a blanket nationwide limit on the terms of local government heads. That decision would be better left to local assemblies.