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Osaka’s mayoral campaign entered its final week Monday. The Nov 27 election campaign has seen all but two candidates drop out, pitting former Osaka Gov Toru Hashimoto, 42, against incumbent Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu, 63.
The two strongly differ on platform issues, with Hiramatsu strongly opposed to Hashimoto's vision to make Osaka a global economic contender.
Hashimoto resigned as governor on Oct 31, three months before his term expires, to run for mayor. He said he made the decision because he was unable to achieve administrative reform due to continuing opposition from Hiramatsu. Hashimoto said there is too much inefficiency and overlap in the administrative functions of the prefecture and the city.
Hiramatsu is advocating grassroots politics, from the bottom up. He said that policies need to reflect the voices of local communities and said that Hashimoto is advocating one-man rule.
Hashimoto said that he would consolidate the administrative frameworks of the city and the prefecture to create a new Osaka to compete with Tokyo and other major cities around the world. He said that changing Osaka is the first step toward changing Japan.
Hiramatsu has the support of city assembly members of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and Liberal Democratic Party, as well as the Japan Communist Party. Hashimoto is backed by his regional Osaka Ishin No Kai (Restoration Group), which has a majority in the Osaka prefectural assembly and Osaka municipal assembly.
© Japan Today
6 Comments
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some14some
Interesting contest, good luck to Toru Hashimoto.
アメリ フセイン
I love Kansai. It would be nice if Osaka becomes the center of commerce and culture in Japan, again.
papigiulio
Yah I also hope Hashimoto wins, Osaka needs some change.
minello7
Hashimoto akin to a horse without blinkers,Hiramatsu akin to an ostrich with its head in buried the ground. One wants to see japan grow and compete with the rest of the world , the other living in the past not wanting change. The voters now must choose which way they want to go, I hope they choose wisely.
bajhista65
Yes...Osaka need a lot of changes. Kansai cleanliness is one especially Namba. Namba station is a mess.
ubikwit
??? osaka, a "global economic contender" ???
well, the first thing you'd have to do is to eliminate the huge population of members of criminal organizations! unfortunately, hashimoto--a burakuminn whose father apparently was a yakuza, as are many burakumin--is a front man for those organizations...
and did i mention that they are yanki organizations, with connections to the 'divide and conquer' moniker freemasons?
bring the shogun back to osaka!