Elections

Campaigning Begins for Town, Village Elections in Japan

REUTERS file photo
A woman casts her vote into a ballot box.

Jiji Press

12:52 JST, April 18, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The official campaign period for 125 mayoral and 373 assembly elections in towns and villages across Japan kicked off on Tuesday, as part of the second half of unified local elections in the country.

Voting will take place Sunday, the same day as mayoral and assembly elections for cities and Tokyo’s special wards, as well as five Diet by-elections, for which the official campaign period has already begun.

In the previous town and village mayoral elections in 2019, 55 candidates were elected without facing contestants, meaning that 45.5% of municipalities saw no voting.

Uncontested elections made up 23.3% of assembly elections for towns and villages that year. Of them, eight municipalities had fewer candidates than there were seats.

Many towns and villages are expected to see uncontested elections this year as well, due to the lack of candidates.

The village of Shosanbetsu in Hokkaido is expected to see only one mayoral candidate for the 13th consecutive election, as the incumbent is believed to be the only person running for the seat.