Votes were counted in the Meguro Ward mayoral election in Tokyo on the 21st, and the incumbent Eiji Aoki (69), an independent, defeated four newcomers, all of whom were independent, and achieved his sixth term. He fended off criticism of the high-stakes election by calling for a “safe, secure, and stable district administration.”
Eiji Aoki chants “Lanzai” with his supporters after securing the election.㊥
The number of voters on that day was 227,055. Voter turnout was 36.21%, 2.88 points higher than the previous vote of 33.33%.
Mr. Aoki, who had decided to win the election, told the supporters gathered at his office late on the 21st, “In this election, I did not use a campaign car, but walked on foot.This is my last big job for Meguro.I will quickly run the ward administration.” I want to move forward with this,” he said of his determination.
As for the reason for the victory, he said, “I think it was because we received high praise for the four years of the ward administration, including the preparation of the new coronavirus vaccination system,” and added, “The important thing in democracy is elections. (As stated in the pledge) If he resigns, the ward mayor’s election will be held on the same day (as the ward assembly election), which will increase voter turnout.We will reform the ward’s administration itself and carry out self-defeating reforms.”
Eiji Aoki, who was elected 6 times in the Meguro Ward mayoral election.
In the election campaign, the evaluation of the incumbent ward administrator, who has served five terms and 20 years, was at issue, with five candidates running, the most ever. Former Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member Yu Ito (47) = Recommended by the People’s Democratic Party and Tokyo Citizens First Association; former Ward councilor Yoko Kono (61) = Liberal Democratic Party recommendation; former Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member Tsubasa Nishizaki (40) = Constitutionalist. Those who supported the Democratic Party, the Communist Party, and the Social Democratic Party criticized the high election, but were unsuccessful.
Mr. Aoki served as a ward assembly member for two terms starting in 1983, then served as Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member (then Democratic Party of Japan), and was first elected as ward mayor in 2004. (Masaki Nakamura)