(Update) Tokyo Gov. Campaigning Begins with Record 56 Candidates

   Tokyo, June 20 (Jiji Press)--The official campaign period for the July 7 Tokyo gubernatorial election started Thursday, with incumbent Governor Yuriko Koike, 71, facing challengers including former administrative reform minister and House of Councillors lawmaker Renho, 56.
   The focus is on how voters will judge Koike's two terms in office spanning eight years, with debates expected to center on child-rearing policies and administrative and fiscal reforms.
   Other candidates include Shinji Ishimaru, 41, former mayor of Akitakata, Hiroshima Prefecture, Toshio Tamogami, 75, former chief of staff of the Air Self-Defense Force, and Kuniaki Shimizu, 73, a television personality.
   A record 56 people filed their candidacies by the deadline on Thursday afternoon, far exceeding the previous record high of 22 marked in the previous 2020 election.
   Prioritizing her duties as Tokyo governor, Koike made only a brief speech at her campaign headquarters in the Japanese capital's Shinjuku Ward on the first day of the campaign period.

(2024/06/20-18:42)

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