Shinji Ishimaru, mayor of Akitakata city in Hiroshima Prefecture, said Thursday that he plans to participate in the Tokyo governor’s race to be held in July.
“I want to change Japan by changing Tokyo,” Ishimaru said at an event in the capital. “It is time to move from a concentration of everything in Tokyo to a decentralization throughout Japan.”
He is expected to face incumbent Yuriko Koike, who has yet to officially throw her hat into the ring.
Ishimaru has been known to clash with local media and city council members since he was first elected in 2020. Due to its popularity, the city’s YouTube channel has almost 240,000 subscribers.
