Osaka Double Elections: Is The Move Meaningful for Realizing The Osaka Metropolis Plan?

Editorial

14:00 JST, January 17, 2026

The aim likely is to gain momentum toward realizing the Osaka metropolis plan, a long-cherished goal of the Japan Innovation Party.

However, even if both the Osaka governor and Osaka mayor are reelected in the double elections, there is no guarantee they will gain approval in the crucial referendum. This is clear from past cases. The judgment of Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura, who is also head of the Japan Innovation Party, and others is difficult to understand.

To hold the Osaka gubernatorial and mayoral elections along with the House of Representatives election expected to take place in early February, Yoshimura and Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama, who is also the JIP’s deputy representative, have both submitted their resignations. Yoshimura will run for a third term, while Yokoyama seeks a second.

The Osaka metropolis plan, which proposes abolishing Osaka City and dividing it into multiple special wards like Tokyo’s 23 wards, is the JIP’s flagship policy. JIP members serving as heads of local governments have proposed it in the past, leading to separate referendums in 2015 and 2020.

The first referendum was held the year after then Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto was reelected, following his resignation mid-term to ascertain the people’s wishes on the metropolis plan. Ultimately, the plan was rejected. The second referendum came the year after the JIP won the Osaka double elections, but the plan was rejected again.

Whether a JIP member is supported by voters and elected as mayor or governor is entirely separate from whether the metropolis plan will be approved in a referendum. The pros and cons of the metropolis plan can only be judged once more through a referendum, separate from the gubernatorial or the mayoral election.

Furthermore, if both Yoshimura and Yokoyama are reelected, their terms will both be limited to the remainder of their current terms, ending next April. Elections for both the prefectural governor and the mayor will be held as part of next spring’s unified local elections. Will residents understand the need to hold repeated elections at significant public expense?

The JIP’s group of Osaka City assembly members has passed a resolution opposing the double elections, but Yoshimura has unilaterally asserted, “Everyone believes we should realize the metropolis plan.”

In addition to the metropolis plan, the JIP is also committed to the “second capital” concept. The idea is to make Osaka a city that can serve as a temporary relocation site for central government ministries and agencies in the event of a disaster affecting Tokyo.

The JIP’s proposal limits the local governments eligible to become the second capital to prefectures that have established special wards. Currently, only Osaka is aiming to establish special wards, so the JIP proposal effectively has Osaka’s designation in mind.

However, the Liberal Democratic Party is cautious about making the establishment of special wards a condition for being designated as a second capital. It is believed that the JIP also intends to use these double elections to push their proposal to be accepted by the LDP.

It is fine for the JIP to aim for the development of Osaka, their home turf, but if it becomes fixated on the idea, the JIP can hardly be considered a ruling party in national politics.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 17, 2026)