
Koike Yuriko Named Tokyo’s First Female Governor
August 3, 2016Author: Nippon.com
Categories: In-Depth with Nippon.com
On July 31, 2016, former Minister of Defense Koike Yuriko was elected as the new governor of Tokyo. Running as an independent candidate, she defeated Masuda Hiroya, the former minister of internal affairs and communications who was endorsed ahead of her by the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Kōmeitō. Koike becomes the first female governor of Tokyo and the ninth person to hold the position in the postwar era. In winning the gubernatorial contest, she will be the international face of the Japanese capital in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Tags: 1945 Tokyo Air Raid, election, First Female Governor, governor, independent voters, Koike Yuriko, LDP, Masuda Hiroya, Tokyo, Tokyo Election, Tokyo Governor, Tokyo Olympics, Torigoe Shuntaro, yuriko koike

JPP: Impact of new teenage voters uncertain
April 18, 2016Author: Tobias Harris
Categories: Japan Political Pulse
This summer’s House of Councillors (HOC) elections will be the first in which Japan’s eighteen and nineteen year olds can vote. Ahead of this historic vote, the Asahi Shimbun conducted a mail survey of soon-to-be-eligible young voters, seeking to understand how they view Japanese politics and society. In the near term, teenage voters could introduce an element of uncertainty into elections, particularly since the Asahi poll suggests that they could be an especially liberal voting bloc.
Tags: 18, 19, Abe, asahi shimbuns, constitution, elections, electorate, employment, house of councillors, independent voters, Japan, japan political pulse, jpp, LDP, liberal, opinion poll, party affiliation, polocy, Shinzo Abe, social security, teen voters, teenage voters, tobias harris, vote, voter turnout, voting, voting bloc, voting-age population