Thread by @AsiaElects

Japan (Wakayama): Wakayama's first new governor in 16 years will be appointed today, in an election almost certain to result in a paradox: politicking centred around two local LDP (Conservative) power-brokers resulting in an opposition MP being elected governor.

Wakayama, infamous in some countries for whaling, has deeply 'traditional' politics. Former LDP secretary-general Toshihiro Nikai and former economy minister Hiroshige Seko both have their Diet seats in the prefecture and each has a large local political structure loyal to him.

It is thought that looming redistricting has pitted the two against each other - Nikai is 83 years old - and that local politics has become their battleground, especially when the increasingly weak-looking incumbent governor announced his decision to retire.

In walks Shuhei Kishimoto, the popular DPP (Centre-right) MP for Wakayama City, taking the initiative and announcing his candidacy. Seko immediately got to work looking for an LDP opponent, but only a week or two after deciding on a candidate, publicly abandoned said plan.

It is thought that this might be the result of a show of power by Nikai - sabotaging Seko's handpicked candidate by working on every local organisation he could find and convincing them to back Kishimoto instead. Eventually, the LDP itself had no choice but to endorse Kishimoto.

Kishimoto is locally supported by the CDP and SDP (Centre-left) as well as the LDP and his own former party. The other two candidates come from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Michiko Matsuzaka (JCP, Left)'s partisan status implies the party is not confident here.

The third candidate is Nana Honma (Ind, *), strongly socially conservative and critical of Nikai's alleged connections to China. She ran against him in the Lower House as the candidate of minor party Kunimori (Conservative) last year, gaining 13% of the vote.

The usual regional Japanese issues predominate here, along with the previous governor's failed attempts to build a casino in the prefecture - Kishimoto is unclear in his stance, but both of his rivals want the plan gone for good.

➤asiaelects.com/japan
#Japan #和歌山県知事選