Yokohama, Oct. 5 (Jiji Press)–Seven people have filed their candidacies in the mayoral election of Yokohama, near Tokyo, including scandal-hit former Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka, kicking off the two-week official campaign period from Sunday. The key is whether Yamanaka will be re-elected in the Oct. 18 poll, which will be held because he resigned last month during his second term after an investigation committee confirmed his acts of harassment against senior municipal officials of Yokohama, the capital of Kanagawa Prefecture. The other six candidates are civic group representative Sachiko Fujikawa, 51, former lawmaker Kazuma Nakatani, 43, lawyer Atsumi Harasawa, 59, company manager Atsushi Fukuyama, 37, architect Riken Yamamoto, 81, and Yuka Asaka, 46, deputy leader of the Japanese Communist Party’s Kanagawa prefectural branch. Nakatani is backed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan’s prefectural chapter, while Harasawa is recommended by the prefectural chapters of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Democratic Party for the People and the Japan Innovation Party, as well as by Komeito’s city assembly members. Fukuyama is recommended by Sanseito. In his first campaign speech, delivered Sunday, Yamanaka said, “I want to take policy measures for residents again as mayor after full reflection.” Meanwhile, Nakatani promised to “open up city administration for a future filled with hopes.” “I’ll bring back smiles to city government employees so residents can also smile,” Harasawa said. “I’ll make Yokohama a city where children feel happy to live.” Fukuyama pledged to “restore politics for residents.” Yamanaka was first elected mayor in August 2021, backed by the CDP. He was re-elected in 2025 with support from local organizations of the LDP, Komeito and the CDP. In July this year, a third-party investigation confirmed instances of his harassing behavior, leading him to resign. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
