Kunio Hatoyama, deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, ended days of speculation Tuesday by announcing his candidacy for April's Tokyo gubernatorial election.
"To make Tokyo a more comfortable place to live, I have made up my mind," he said at a DPJ lawmakers' meeting at the Diet building the same day. Hatoyama later told reporters he would officially declare his candidacy and his policies on governing the nation's capital on Friday, and that he "will not go backward any more."
Hatoyama, a Tokyo-elected Lower House member, has been considered a likely candidate for the governor's chair ever since Yukio Aoshima's sudden decision last week not to seek a second term.