Their loss in the House of Councilors Election casts a dark cloud over the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) National Administration, anticipating it to be a tailwind for the re-election of Governor Tamaki in the Okinawa Gubernatorial Election. (18jy22)


Splendor of Okinawa: Sonchus, roadside Uruma, 4jy22

Concurrent with the end of the term, the Okinawa Prefectural Gubernatorial Election will be publicized on 25 August with ballots to be opened on 11 September. However, a dark cloud looms over the LDP National Administration’s hopes of recapturing the prefectural administration.


In the just concluded House of Councilors Election, the LDP backed contender lost by a slim margin to the unaffiliated incumbent pushed by the strength of Governor Denny Tamaki’s All Okinawa. That put a halt to the LDP’s continuous string of victories since January in Okinawa’s “election year.” 


Moreover, a different conservative candidate has indicated his intention to enter the field, bringing up the concern of having their vote split. The All Okinawa Party expected a tailwind for the re-election of Governor Tamaki, but obviously the new challenger may weaken their strength as well. 


In the prefectural mayoral elections, starting from Nago and Nanjo in January, the LDP won 4 in a row. But, in the Okinawa District House of Councilors Election,  although the LDP trotted out a former general affairs bureaucrat, he lost by a mere 2888 votes. A prefectural party LDP alliance member bit his lip over carrying continuously positive data into a close election contest, “In a strongly conservative district, we couldn’t solidify the vote.”


In the coming gubernatorial election, it had seemed that the challenge had been laid out, with incumbent Governor Tamaki facing former Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima, supported by the  LDP. The two of them had fought this out in the last election. But then, Former Minister for Postal Affairs Mikio Shimoji announced his candidacy on the video distribution site YouTube on 13 July.


An LDP party member let leak, “I just got a headache!” with the realization that a former LDP member of the House of Representatives in the race would unquestionably split the conservative vote. On the other hand, a prefectural assembly member from All Okinawa expressed relief, noting, “A bad trend was cut short,” after the string of lost top level elections. But, undeniably, the tide is on the wane with splits, such as in support groups. The overwhelming victories in whole prefecture elections are now a thing of the past. 


With the victory in the House of Councilors Election, Governor Tamaki stressed once again his opposition to the relocation of the US Military Futenma Airfield from  Ginowan to Henoko in Nago. His platform declares, “We pledge to raise the issue publicly with all our strength in the gubernatorial election.” But an informed source from within his campaign leaked the voices of unease,  “The issue of the bases no longer resonates much among the young.”


Original Japanese article: Jiji Press (Jiji.com), published Monday 18 July 2022 at 07:15

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/0eb4fd98d011df708e2b8fc4cd79a12b3e94648f


Denny in the News: news about Governor Denny Tamaki.

Denny Tamaki is the governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan. Although Okinawa is important as an international tourist destination and a key element in strategic US Military Forces, its governor receives very little coverage in the Japanese press and almost none in the English language media. 

  1. This blog hopes to  translate one news article a day on the governor.  It is unsponsored and unauthorized. The translator simply hopes to improve his skills and perhaps give the governor an English speaking audience. 

  2. Any suggestion on improving the translation will be gratefully accepted. However, please leave political comments for another forum.

  3. Where they occur, words and phrases in Ryukyuan (the Okinawan language) are rendered in italics and translated in parentheses. Names  whose readings are uncertain are rendered as Name (=Kanji?) as in Nagayuki (=長行?). Any corrections in such instances would be gratefully appreciated. 

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