2025 POLLS: Former mayor stirring up Hyogo district

In the previous three elections, the district's three seats were equally divided among the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, its Komeito ally, and Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party).

However, the three parties' dominance is now threatened by Fusaho Izumi, a former mayor of Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture, who is running as an independent candidate. Izumi has also gained popularity as a media commentator.

"Politics is not something that is done within Nagatacho (Japan's political centre in Tokyo) or Kasumigaseki (its government district)," Izumi said in a stump speech on a shopping street in the heart of Kobe, the capital of Hyogo, on July 6.

As Akashi mayor, Izumi was often in the spotlight for his child-rearing policies and his abusive language toward city assembly members and city government employees.

For his election campaign, the former mayor is emphasising his personality, including displaying a life-size cutout of himself and his books at his campaign office.

From 2003 to 2005, Izumi served in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Diet, as a member of the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan.

When he announced his candidacy for the Upper House seat in March this year, he distanced himself from existing parties, saying, "There's not a single party I find attractive."

He kicked off his campaign in Tangajima, a Hyogo island in the Seto Inland Sea, with a population of about 20 people. Regarding his choice of venue, Izumi said he wanted to shine a light on places that have not received much public attention.

Izumi is also actively using social media for his campaign.

The LDP is endorsing incumbent Hiroyuki Kada, who was involved in a political funds scandal that rocked the party's faction once led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Amid headwinds for current Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's administration, LDP lawmakers delivering stump speeches for Kada said the candidate is in a more than dire situation.

Ishiba came to support the LDP candidate in Hyogo on the day that the official campaign period for the upcoming poll began. Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi also visited there later.

Komeito, which is seeking to have Mitsuo Takahashi re-elected, also has a strong sense of alarm. Its leader, Tetsuo Saito, chose Kobe for his first campaign speech and described the district as "the fiercest battleground."

The city of Amagasaki in eastern Hyogo is known as a Komeito stronghold. In last month's city assembly election, however, the total number of votes garnered by Komeito candidates declined by about 15 per cent from the previous election four years ago.

Nippon Ishin has fielded Toshitaka Yoshihira, but a party official said the candidate is facing an uphill battle.

The party is still recovering from a scandal involving Hyogo Governor Motohiko Saito. The party expelled a Hyogo prefectural assembly member and advised another to leave, both for leaking information related to the scandal.

Unlike the three parties, Sanseito and the Democratic Party for the People are enjoying a boost in popularity. In the Amagasaki assembly election, a Sanseito candidate received the most votes.

In Sunday's election, Sanseito's Seiya Fujiwara is expected to steal a considerable number of votes from the LDP and Nippon Ishin candidates.

The DPFP initially considered endorsing Izumi, but his remark that no existing political party seems attractive angered party leader Yuichiro Tamaki and other party members. The party then decided to field former industry ministry bureaucrat Hitomi Tada.

Both Sanseito and the DPFP are using social media to their advantage. "We can't predict how far their popularity will grow," an LDP source said.

Takashi Tachibana, who leads a political group that criticises NHK, also known as the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, is also running in Hyogo. During last November's Hyogo gubernatorial race, he fueled the spread of dubious information and slander on social media.

During his Upper House campaign, Tachibana is targeting Izumi, arguing that the former mayor is effectively a candidate of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, citing the CDP's prefectural chapter's support for Izumi.

 [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]