Voting under way in Tokyo assembly race, prelude to national election
TOKYO : Voting is under way Sunday in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, regarded as a bellwether for this summer’s House of Councillors race, with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba struggling to steer a minority government on the national political stage.
With no party holding a majority in the 127-member assembly, Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party is aiming to retain its seats despite approval ratings for his Cabinet sometimes dipping below 30 percent, widely viewed as the “danger level” in Japan.
Currently, the LDP holds 30 seats, followed by Tomin First no Kai, established by Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike, with 26, the LDP’s junior coalition partner Komeito with 23 and the Japanese Communist Party with 19. The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition force in national politics, has 12.
As of 3 p.m., voter turnout was estimated at 18.60 percent, up 0.19 percentage point from the turnout at the same time in the previous assembly election in 2021. The number of registered voters stood at about 11.55 million. Turnout in the 2021 vote was 42.39 percent.
This year brings a rare overlap between the Tokyo metropolitan assembly race, held every four years, and the upper house election, which occurs every three. Ishiba has opted against dissolving the House of Representatives for an early snap election, lawmakers said.
Major parties — including Komeito and Tomin First — have actively used social media and delivered street speeches to appeal to voters, particularly those unaffiliated.
Attention is also on whether a new party launched by Shinji Ishimaru — who gained prominence through social media and finished second in the 2024 Tokyo gubernatorial race — can make a splash. He formerly served as mayor of a city in Hiroshima Prefecture.
Key issues echo national politics, such as support for households grappling with inflation, political funding scandals involving the LDP, child-rearing policies, measures to prevent heatstroke and other local concerns.
In the 42 electoral districts, 295 candidates are contesting the assembly election. The figure exceeded the 271 who ran in the race four years ago, conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, marking the highest number of candidates in over three decades.
According to the election commission, about 1.73 million people cast early ballots by Saturday, around 300,000 more than the last race.