Nine people are currently running in the Yokohama mayoral election, which is set for Aug. 22. But that’s not why the media has found it more interesting than any other regional poll in recent memory.
Yokohama falls within the constituency of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, and one candidate, Hachiro Okonogi, is a long-time ally whose career as a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is closely related to that of Suga, who entered politics as an aide to Okonogi’s father, Hikosaburo Okonogi.
However, Okonogi is running as an independent and has pledged that, if elected, he will cancel the city’s bid for an integrated resort (IR), something Suga supports. IRs are excuses to build casinos, which the LDP legalized in 2018, so Suga, as the party president, has to promote IRs, though not necessarily in his own backyard. Initially, the government will choose three regions in which to build IRs with the application process starting in October and ending on April 28 of next year. So far, only five localities — including Yokohama — have announced they will apply.
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