Yokohama’s IR dream appears to be over after anti-IR campaigner and former Yokohama City University Professor Takeharu Yamanaka won Sunday’s mayoral election.
The 48-year-old, who had the official backing of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the support of the Japan Communist Party, has promised to end Yokohama’s IR bid, having described casinos as a “poison apple”.
The final tally saw Yamanaka receive 506,392 votes or 33.59% ahead of pre-election favorite Hachiro Okonogi with 325,947 (21.62%) and incumbent mayor Fumiko Hayashi with 196,926 (13.06%).
Joji Kokuryo, Managing Director of Bay City Ventures, speaking to IAG on the election late Sunday night, said, “Yamanaka’s campaign clearly gained steam in the last two weeks. His sometimes-over-the-top anti-IR stance was effective in confirming that he would put an end to the unpopular policy in the city. He showed a timely skill set, promoting his experience in data science and vaccination studies to show that he is best suited to lead the city through the current COVID crisis.
“Unless there is a sudden change in power, this is the end [for any IR in Yokohama] for at least the next four years. Those with hope that the LDP majority in the city council could still keep the IR bid alive need only to look at that fact that 30 of the 36 LDP council members publicly supported Okonogi’s anti-IR platform. It is beyond clear that these council members are not going to bet their political careers on the IR development policy.
“[Runner up] Okonogi was not able to take full advantage of having the strongest political organizational backing, as he lost the independent voters who deemed him as unpopular Prime Minister Suga’s candidate of choice … the Suga administration approval ratings are at a historical low, going under 30% in most recent polls. This ‘loss’ in Yokohama will certainly force LDP members to seriously consider replacing their party leader ahead of the all-important House of Representatives general elections due to take place before November 28th of this year.
“[Incumbent mayor and IR supporter] Hayashi expectedly finished in third, far from putting any pressure on the top two candidates. The surprise lay in the fact she finished closer to [4th placed] Tanaka and [5th placed] Matsuzawa than the leading pack, likely due to her lack of organized political backing. She does go out with some sympathy from the local business community for her consistent pro-IR stance and a legacy as the first female mayor of Japan’s largest city.”
See this video published by IAG on 16 August for detailed background on the Yokohama mayoral election.
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