Ito Mayor Likely to Lose Job as Opponents Dominate City Assembly

Jiji Press

11:49 JST, October 20, 2025

ITO, Shizuoka (Jiji Press) — Candidates opposing Ito Mayor Maki Takubo dominated the 20-seat assembly of the central Japan city in a closely watched election Sunday, raising the possibility of the mayor losing her job through a fresh no-confidence motion.

Of the 20 new members of the Ito city assembly, which was dissolved by the mayor last month, 19 have expressed their intentions to support a second no-confidence motion against her, likely to be passed at an extraordinary assembly session to be convened Oct. 31. Takubo has been accused of falsifying her education background.

All 18 former assembly members who ran in Sunday’s poll were re-elected. “We will pass a no-confidence motion again at an extraordinary assembly session and bring back stable city administration,” Hiromichi Nakajima, the former head of the assembly of the Shizuoka Prefecture city, told reporters Sunday night.

If a no-confidence motion is passed again and Takubo steps down as a result, a mayoral election will be held within 50 days of her resignation. A plan has been considered for the mayoral election to be announced Dec. 7 and held Jan. 4, 2026.

“If citizens pin hopes on me, I would like to do my best to meet their expectations,” Takubo said about her response to the possible mayoral election. She made the comment in a television program before the end of the vote counting for Sunday’s assembly election.

The passage of the possible fresh no-confidence motion requires the attendance of two thirds or more of all assembly members at the first assembly session to be convened after Sunday’s election and the approval from more than half of them.

Takubo would be able to avoid losing the job of mayor if seven members vote against the expected no-confidence motion. But only one of the 20 new members is expected to oppose such a motion.

After the city assembly passed a no-confidence motion against Takubo Sept. 1, the mayor dissolved the assembly Sept. 10.

Sunday’s assembly election had 30 candidates, with the major focus on whether the mayor should resign over her education record falsification. Voter turnout came to 59.22%, higher than 48.88% in the previous Ito city assembly election.