OSAKA — Okinawa voters returned the prefecture's only Liberal Democratic Party Diet member, Aiko Shimajiri, to the Upper House in a contest closely watched by Tokyo and Washington for its connection with U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

Campaigning under the slogan "Changing politics from the kitchen," the 45-year-old Shimajiri won Sunday with 258,946 votes, while her main challenger, Hiroji Yamashiro, 57, an independent supported by the Social Democratic Party, ended up with 215,690 votes.

Tadayuki Iju, 59, who was supported by the Japanese Communist Party, received a little more than 58,000 votes.