The Tokyo gubernatorial election has traditionally been a battle by the major political parties for the clout that comes with running the capital.
But not so in the current race. Waning trust in political parties among an increasingly jaded electorate has led four of the five candidates, including the highly popular incumbent, Shintaro Ishihara, to run without any formal party support.
The 70-year-old Ishihara, widely viewed as the front-runner, refused offers of official backing from the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, both partners in the ruling coalition on the national level, although he has forged a working relationship with the two in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly.
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