There are 11 men vying today for the office of Tokyo governor. Four are taken seriously by the media, the eccentric inventor Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu is humored as a perennial also-ran, and the remaining six are dismissed as margin-dwellers who are in the game to draw attention to themselves or advocate for specific issues.

One of the latter, 41-year-old Keigo Furukawa, wants to "expel" foreigners from Tokyo. That being the main plank on his platform, he isn't going to attract much serious consideration except from rabid rightwing isolationists, though some of his other ideas, such as legalizing casino gambling, merging Tokyo's two subway lines and having them operate round the clock, and providing more public housing, merit discussion.

Discussion has been in even shorter supply than in past elections owing to the ongoing crisis. It was originally thought that the present governor, Shintaro Ishihara, who has already held the seat for 12 years, would not seek a fourth term, but he announced he would on March 11, which was also the day the earthquake struck. Ishihara isn't used to being shut out of the news cycle, and his notorious crack about the tsunami being "divine retribution" may have been a manifestation of resentment at having his thunder stolen by the gods.