The Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party (Ishin) govern together in Tokyo, but they could end up on opposite sides in next spring's Nara gubernatorial election. Ishin-backed incumbent Governor Makoto Yamashita announced in September that he will run again, while the LDP's Nara chapter has yet to settle on a candidate of its own.
At a Nov. 2 news conference where the chapter announced its first round of endorsements for the prefectural assembly election, chapter chief Iwao Horii, an upper house lawmaker, said of the governor's race: "It is important that the LDP becomes one in heart. We are continuing our efforts to find a wonderful candidate."
A split conservative vote in 2023
In the last gubernatorial election in 2023, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, then the chapter's chief, led the push to field Sho Hiraki, who had served as her secretary when she was internal affairs minister. Some LDP prefectural assembly members instead backed the incumbent, Shogo Arai, splitting the conservative vote. Yamashita, then as now the Ishin candidate, won his first term.
Shinichi Hikita, the chapter's secretary-general, said a contest with a coalition partner is no reason to stand down. "National politics and prefectural politics are different things. We will not pass up fielding a candidate out of consideration for Ishin," he said. He also said there is "no involvement at all from the center" in choosing a candidate.
It is not clear whether Takaichi has made any approach. One prefectural assembly member said: "Given what happened last time, I don't think she will interfere."
Four months without a name
The chapter decided at a July meeting of its standing committee to field its own candidate. At a meeting in October it left the selection to LDP lawmakers elected from the prefecture.
About four months after that decision, the field remains unsettled. Two people have submitted requests for the party's endorsement, and the names of local government leaders and central ministry officials have also been floated. Opinion inside the chapter is divided and it has yet to close ranks.