Photo/Illutration From left: Hirofumi Yoshimura, Ryuna Kanemura, Seiki Soramoto and Shigefumi Matsuzawa gather in Osaka for street speeches on Nov. 17. (Toshiyuki Hayashi)

OSAKA--Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) kicked off its presidential election Nov. 17 with a record four candidates running for the post.

Heated debates were a foregone conclusion as the candidates seek to revive the opposition party’s fortunes following its dismal showing in the Oct. 27 Lower House election.

Nobuyuki Baba announced he would not seek re-election as president to take responsibility for the loss of six of the 44 seats the party held before the election.

A new representative will be elected at an extraordinary party congress on Dec. 1.

The candidates, in order of registration, are: 49-year-old Hirofumi Yoshimura, the party co-leader who is also governor of Osaka Prefecture; Lower House member Ryuna Kanemura, 45; Lower House member Seiki Soramoto, 60; and Upper House member Shigefumi Matsuzawa, who is 66.

Baba was elected president of the party in 2022. From the home base of Osaka, Baba tried to expand Nippon Ishin’s influence, with the aim of making it a party with nationwide appeal.

And while the party won all 19 constituencies in Osaka Prefecture in the Lower House election, it lost nearly 3 million proportional representation votes nationwide.

Yoshimura, who has strong name recognition, was the first to put his name forward as Baba’s replacement. He has strong backing within the party.

His popularity may give him the edge in becoming the “face of the party” in upcoming local elections and the Upper House election next summer.

On the other hand, the other three candidates were all elected outside of Osaka.

They are expected to try to shed Nippon Ishin’s image as a regional party that originated in Osaka and become a political force with nationwide support.

(This article was written by Kei Kobayashi and Yuichi Nobira)

Related News