The Meguro Ward mayoral election in Tokyo, held on the 21st, had five candidates running, the most ever, and the incumbent Eiji Aoki (69) was joined by new candidates supported by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, House of Councilors member Renho, and Digital Minister Taro Kono. He defeated him and achieved the 6th election. However, Mr. Aoki’s vote percentage was only about 30% of the valid votes cast. In addition to the fact that the votes critical of the majority were shared among newcomers, there were also complaints from the Liberal Democratic Party that the issue of slush funds had been raised. Voter turnout was 36.21%, 2.88 points higher than last time.
Meguro Ward Mayor Election Confirmed Votes
When 25,439 Eiji Aoki appears＜6＞
20,369 Yu Ito Mushin
19,132 Sho Nishizaki Mushin
12,149 Yoko Kono Mushin
3,953 Takayuki Takishita Mushin
◆“Be humble…” he said the morning after being pressed by a newcomer.
“We have to be humble.” On the morning of the 22nd, Aoki told this newspaper in an interview at Meguro Ward Office. He was elected with about 25,000 votes, but two former Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly members came in second and third with about 20,000 votes and 19,000 votes, respectively. The number of votes was also about 5,000 fewer than last time.
The background to this is the harsh scrutiny that has been placed on Aoki Ward’s administration over the past 20 years over five terms. During the election period, new candidates criticized the ward administration, saying, “The ward administration has not changed,” and “waiting for instructions, waiting for orders, and standing side by side.” It became a receptacle for votes that did not want a majority election.
Eiji Aoki (middle) celebrates his victory with his supporters in Meguro Ward, Tokyo on the night of the 21st.
However, as one campaign official recalls, “The votes were split.It would be difficult for a newcomer to challenge the incumbent…” All the newcomers succumbed to Mr. Aoki’s natural strength, lacking any outstanding points of contention and failing to differentiate themselves.
◆The Liberal Democratic Party, the only female candidate, fell to 4th place
The Liberal Democratic Party in particular did not perform well. Yoko Yokono, a former ward representative who recommended her, emphasized that she is the only female candidate. She took to the streets with her relatives Digital Minister Kono and Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare Keizo Takemi, but she came in 4th place with about 12,000 votes. She won about half of the approximately 23,000 votes that the two Liberal Democratic Party candidates received in the 2021 Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election in Meguro Ward. One Liberal Democratic Party official lamented, “The headwinds from the slush funds issue in national politics were 100% the influence.”
In some ways, Mr. Aoki achieved victory through the loss of his enemy. Under his campaign promise, in order to increase voter turnout, he will resign after three years and not run again, and the election for ward mayor will be held on the same day as the ward election in the unified local elections. The question now is how to respond to the voices of the ward’s residents, including those who did not vote for Aoki over the previous three years. (Masaki Nakamura)