Motohiko Saito seems to have used Donald Trump’s playbook to regain the Hyogo governor’s post.

Saito, 47, on Nov. 17 won the gubernatorial election by deploying an effective social media campaign, repeatedly denying any wrongdoing, pushing conspiracy theories and increasing his criticism against the mainstream media.

He defeated six candidates, including Kazumi Inamura, 52, the former mayor of Amagasaki in the prefecture.

“I wasn’t particularly fond of social media because of all the harsh comments, but I really came to see its positive side―it reaches a lot of people and helps spread support,” Saito said on Nov. 17 after his victory was secured.

Early on, things did not appear so positive for Saito.

On Sept. 30, Saito stood alone in front of JR Suma Station in Kobe, bowing in apology to commuters. That day, he lost his post as governor as a result of a no-confidence motion passed on Sept. 19 by the Hyogo prefectural assembly over allegations of corruption, power harassment and ignoring rules on protecting whistleblowers.

In contrast to that bleak sight, a large, enthusiastic crowd filled a public area in Kobe on Nov. 16 to hear Saito on the final day of the election campaign.

“Let’s work together to build a movement for a better Hyogo,” Saito bellowed in his speech.

His words were met with cheers of “Keep it up!” from the audience.

In the initial stages of the campaign, Saito devoted much of his time highlighting his three years of reforms as Hyogo governor. These included “youth support policies” to make prefectural universities tuition-free and to improve prefectural high school facilities.

He also leaned on support from former classmates from his junior high and high school days. Additionally, hundreds of people joined as volunteers through social media. These two groups formed the backbone of his campaign.

The campaign actively shared videos online of Saito’s speeches and provided schedules for his rallies. His online calls to continue his reforms resonated with a wider audience, and his support base grew.

Saito also received backing from some members of the Hyogo branch of Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party).

Another significant factor in his campaign was Takashi Tachibana, 57, the leader of the anti-NHK political party who declared his candidacy in the Hyogo governor’s election just to support Saito.

Tachibana frequently delivered speeches around Saito’s appearances, speaking before or after him.

In his speeches, Tachibana said, “The media is full of lies” and “Saito was set up by the prefectural assembly.”

He also uploaded videos to his YouTube channel, which has 630,000 subscribers, to defend Saito and claim “there was no power harassment.”

REPEATED DENIALS

Saito’s troubles with the prefectural assembly stemmed from a document distributed by an official who had headed the prefectural government’s branch office in charge of the Nishi-Harima region.

The document accused Saito and his aides of power harassment and improperly accepting gifts.

The prefectural government under Saito investigated the matter and suspended the official. He was later found dead in an apparent suicide in July.

At a special investigative committee set up by the assembly to investigate the accusations, Saito defended his actions to identify the whistleblower as “appropriate.”

But he acknowledged that when reprimanding senior prefectural government officials, “I may have gone overboard.”

During the campaign, Saito repeated his denials of wrongdoing and gradually echoed Tachibana’s narrative by shifting criticism toward the media and the assembly.

“Was the media’s reporting truly accurate? Were some assembly members making decisions based only on political maneuvering or election consideration,” Saito said during the campaign. “What is the truth? And what is truly best for Hyogo Prefecture?”

Toward the end of the campaign, Saito also addressed the power harassment accusations, saying, “I have never relentlessly targeted any specific employee.”

Saito’s campaign team said it has had no contact with Tachibana.

But one team member acknowledged, “Ultimately, we can’t deny that Tachibana’s efforts contributed to the outcome.”

As the election progressed, the number of people gathering at Saito’s street rallies kept growing.

A 37-year-old man who attended one of the speeches, said: “Tachibana changed my perspective.”

A 22-year-old university student at a Saito rally said social media made a difference.

“When I looked up information on X (formerly Twitter), I saw that some of the accusations were denied by people involved,” the student said. “It made me think that Saito might not be at fault after all.”

The attacks against mainstream media also worked in Saito’s favor.

“The fact that someone (the whistleblower) died is a serious issue, but I’ve changed my mind a little after seeing information on social media that defended Saito, while TV coverage seemed to stir up public criticism,” said a 22-year-old from Kobe who voted for Saito.

A 32-year-old employee from Akashi who also voted for Saito said: “There was conflicting information between the newspapers, TV and the internet about the data on the whistleblower’s computer, which made me question what was true.

“‘Innocent until proven guilty’ should at least apply to Saito, and forcing him to resign was excessive.”

After the no-confidence motion, Saito could have dissolved the assembly, but he chose to vacate the post on Sept. 30 and run for re-election.

He said he wanted to let the public decide on his future.

FERTILE GROUND FOR SPECULATION

“This gubernatorial election centered on Saito’s character and qualifications to be governor,” said Hiroshi Shiratori, a professor of modern political analysis at Hosei University. “However, social media created a theatrical narrative of ‘Saito vs. the prefectural assembly.’”

Shiratori noted that the partially private exchanges at the special investigative committee created “fertile ground for speculation.”

He also believes social media allowed Saito to reach out to voters who do not usually engage in traditional media.

“There were likely a certain number of people who didn’t know which information to trust and were misled by false information,” he said.

Despite the online spread of fake news, Shiratori said it is clear that social media will continue having a significant influence on elections.

“It will become increasingly important to spread media literacy so that people will avoid blindly believing extreme posts and be able to identify reliable information,” he said.