The first round of regional elections on April 9 marked the rise of Nippon Ishin no Kai ¡ª which recorded significant wins in its Kansai stronghold ¡ª and signaled an ever-deepening decline of forces on the left side of the political spectrum.
Even in areas like Hokkaido, a stronghold of the now defunct Japan Socialist Party, the incumbent governor Naomichi Suzuki, supported by conservative forces, was re-elected with a support rate of over 75% ¡ª with exit polls showing approximately 80% of voters between the ages of 18 and 30 endorsed him.
Notably, the poor performance of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) ¡ª bringing the number of prefectural assemblies without a single party representative up from one to five ¡ª has drawn attention to the shrinkage of traditional liberal parties.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.