Former defence minister
Yuriko Koike will oversee the Japanese capital’s troubled preparations for the
2020 Olympics
By Martin Foster
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Yuriko Koike and her
supporters celebrate her win in Tokyo.
Photograph: KYODO/Reuters
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Tokyo has elected its first female governor
to take charge of the city amid troubled 2020 Olympic Games preparations after
a foul-mouthed campaign of misogyny and mudslinging.
Yuriko Koike claimed victory after exit polls
and early vote counts pointed to a strong lead for the former defence and
environment minister.
“I will lead Tokyo politics in an unprecedented
manner, a Tokyo you have never seen,” she said in a voice slightly hoarse after
two weeks of campaigning.
The election, which was contested by a record
field of 21 candidates in a city home to 13.6 million people, was called after
the previous governor, Yoichi Masuzoe, resigned over a financial scandal
involving the use of public funds to pay for lavish hotels and spa trips.
Koike largely played down her achievement of
becoming the first woman to govern the Japanese capital – and only the seventh
woman ever to serve as a prefectural governor – but she is no stranger to
male-dominated environments, having served in the lower house of parliament
where less than 10% of MPs are women.
Last week Shintaro Ishihara, 83, another
former Tokyo governor not renowned for his tact, called her “a caked-up old
woman well past her prime”.
“He has embarrassed us again in public,” said
Yoshiko Matsuya, a self-employed clothing worker who voted for Koike. “I think
he is probably senile.”
Koike said in her victory speech she would
pursue policies that would mean that “both women and men can shine in Tokyo”.
The leftwing candidate Shuntaro Torigoe was
hit by a sex scandal and trailed in third behind the establishment candidate
Hiroya Masuda.
Koike played her cards well in the election
by exploiting the sympathy vote, but she touted hardline exclusionist policies,
said Masaru Kaneko, a professor at Keio University’s school of economics.
“She opposes participation in regional
elections by non-Japanese people, is against the system of Korean schools that
operates in Japan and does not want to see foreign immigration into Japan,” he
said.
Koike graduated from Cairo University in 1976
in sociology and speaks fluent English and Arabic. She worked as a translator
before going into journalism and then politics.
A key task will be leading the city’s
troubled preparations for the 2020 Olympics, which have been hit by a series of
embarrassing scandals and soaring costs.
“I would like to review the basis for the
budget, so that I can clarify for the eyes of Tokyo residents how much they
would have to pay,” she said in her victory speech.
The 2020 Olympics is set to showcase Japan in
the 21st century and Koike will want to be centre stage for the main event.
The budget, however, has ballooned to 1.8tn
yen (£13bn), six times the original figure, and in a country that is still to
shake off more than 25 years of deflation she will be expected to tighten
control.
Given Koike’s background, some observers want
her to promote a more environmentally friendly Games.
“The big deal, the really big deal is
infrastructure development, and 2020 coincides with timetables for low carbon
targets,” said Andrew De Wit, a professor at Rikkyo University’s school of
policy studies. “The Olympics provide Tokyo with the chance to grab the mantle
of leadership on emissions.”
Following her major achievement in securing
the governorship of Tokyo, Matsuya believes Koike has a greater ambition. “This
is not her final goal. Her real goal is to become PM,” she said. “She is still
a work in progress.”