Governor
presidential
Election name1999 Tokyo gubernatorial election
CountryTokyo
Ongoingno
Previous election1995 Tokyo gubernatorial election
Previous year1995
Next election2003 Tokyo gubernatorial election
Next year2003
Election dateApril 11, 1999
Turnout57.87%
Candidate 1Shintarō Ishihara
Party 1Independent
Popular vote 11,664,558
Percentage 130.47%
Candidate 2Kunio Hatoyama
Party 2Independent
Popular vote 2851,130
Percentage 215.58%
Candidate 3Yōichi Masuzoe
Party 3Independent
Popular vote 3836,104
Percentage 315.30%
Before electionYukio Aoshima
Before partyIndependent
After electionShintarō Ishihara
After partyIndependent

The 1999 Tokyo gubernatorial election were held on April 11, 1999 as part of the 14th unified local elections. Incumbent Yukio Aoshima announced that he would not seek re-election. All major candidates ran as independents but several were supported by major parties. The Liberal Democratic Party, led by Secretary General Yoshiro Mori, supported Yasushi Akashi as a compromise with coalition partner New Komeito, but local LDP legislators divided their support between candidates Ishihara, Masuzoe and Kakizawa.

Author and former Diet member Shintaro Ishihara, who had previously come in second in the 1975 gubernatorial election against incumbent governor Ryokichi Minobe,[1] won the election on a nationalist platform, saying that he would have the United States return Yokota Air Base to Japan and clarify its position on Japan's ownership of the Senkaku Islands. Akashi came in fourth, the poorest showing by an LDP-supported candidate in Tokyo history.[2]

Results

  • Note: This list excludes twelve other candidates, none of whom received more than 0.3% of total votes.

References

  1. ^ Allinson, Gary D. (1979). Suburban Tokyo: A Comparative Study in Politics and Social Change. University of California Press. p. 185. ISBN 9780520028425.
  2. ^ Kristof, Nicholas (12 April 1999). "Nationalist Critical of U.S. Air Base Is Elected Governor of Tokyo". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 January 2014.