Hokkaido Village Mayor Backing Nuclear Site Survey Wins Re-Election

Kamoenai, Hokkaido, Feb. 22 (Jiji Press)--The incumbent mayor of Kamoenai, Hokkaido, who is positive about a survey for selecting a nuclear waste disposal site, secured re-election in Sunday's mayoral poll in the northern Japan village.

Masayuki Takahashi, 75, fended off two challengers to win a seventh term as Kamoenai mayor.

During the campaign, Takahashi expressed his support for a plan to conduct a second-stage survey for a possible disposal site in the village, where a first-stage literature survey has already been completed.

He said that accepting the second-stage boring survey does not mean that the village is set to host the disposal site.

Of his two contenders, self-employed Kazuo Ida, 73, opposed the second-stage survey, while company employee Shinichi Kishi, 46, suggested conditional support.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]