Campaigning Begins for Feb. 8 Osaka Governor Election

Osaka, Jan. 22 (Jiji Press)--The official campaign period for the Feb. 8 Osaka gubernatorial election began on Thursday, following the resignation of the previous governor, Hirofumi Yoshimura, in an attempt to revive the so-called Osaka metropolis plan.

Yoshimura, leader of the Japan Innovation Party, and two independents filed their candidacies on Thursday.

The 50-year-old former governor hopes that the election will focus on the metropolis plan, which calls for restructuring the city of Osaka, the prefecture's capital, into special wards.

"A stronger Osaka will strengthen Japan," Yoshimura said in his first campaign speech. "For this, the metropolis plan is necessary."

Yoshimura has also said that the metropolis plan is essential for a secondary capital plan included in the coalition agreement between the JIP and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]