The July governor’s race in Tokyo should have been a foregone conclusion, with Yuriko Koike winning a third term in a landslide. But things took an unexpected turn when Renho, an opposition party lawmaker, threw her hat into the ring.
With her iconic white suit, her down-to-earth personality and a political career spanning nearly two decades, Renho may be the first candidate with a real chance to dethrone Koike, who has been governor for eight years.
“Anti-Liberal Democratic Party politics, non-Koike governance – I would like to tackle the Tokyo gubernatorial election with this stance,” Renho said. “I would like to create a metropolitan government that breaks away from old politics and focuses budgets on policies that are really necessary.”
