2012 Tokyo gubernatorial election

The 2012 Tokyo gubernatorial election took place on December 16, 2012, which was held on the same day as the general election.

Background
After long-term Governor Shintaro Ishihara suddenly resigned to return to national politics ahead of the then-looming next general election. A field of nine candidates emerged, with the front-runner being Naoki Inose, who had been vice-governor under Ishihara from 2007 to 2012, and then acting governor after Ishihara's abrupt resignation. Inose vowed to follow Ishihara's policies.

Candidates

 * Mac Akasaka (real name: Makoto Tonami) - Therapist, activist, perennial candidate. Founder and leader of the Smile Party.
 * Masaichi Igarashi - Member of the board of directors of an international exchange body.
 * Naoki Inose - Journalist, historian, social critic. Then vice-governor of Tokyo and acting governor.
 * Shigefumi Matsuzawa - Former governor of Kanagawa Prefecture.
 * Yoshiro Nakamatsu (Dr. NakaMats)- Inventor, perennial candidate.
 * Takashi Sasagawa - Former LDP General Council Chairman.
 * Tokuma Suginomori (TOKMA) - Rock musician. Director of the Happiness Realization Party's youth division.
 * Kenji Utsunomiya - Lawyer. Former head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations from 2010 to 2012.
 * Shigenobu Yoshida - Former Japanese ambassador to Nepal.

Campaign
Information campaign for the polls was administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Election Administration Commission. Tokyo Metropolitan Election Administration Commission, November 12, 2012 press release: [http://www.senkyo.metro.tokyo.jp/241112press.pdf １２月１６日投票東京都知事選挙のキャッチコピーとイメージキャラクターが決定しました. ] [The Tokyo Metropolitan Election Administration Commission it is responsible for administering prefectural elections (governor and assembly) and the district segments of national elections (House of Representatives general, by- and repeat elections, House of Councillors regular, by- and repeat elections) in Tokyo, supervising Tokyo's 62 municipal election commissions that organize the actual voting process in their local jurisdiction; the Metropolitan commission is one of 47 member commissions of the federation of prefectural election administration commissions (to-dō-fu-ken senkyo kanri iinkai rengōkai), translated to English as "National Election Administration Committee" even though it doesn't administer any election in Japan, national or otherwise, only its 47 individual member commissions do; according to its own website (都道府県選挙管理委員会連合会とは), the federation serves as information exchange and as lobby group representing the prefectural commissions towards the National Diet and the central government, it organizes research and publishes information material; it is not to be confused with the central election administration committee (chūō senkyo kanrikai) that administers the proportional representation segments of national elections (House of Representatives general and House of Councillors regular election) and the confirmation referendum for Supreme Court judges, and provides general support for prefectural and municipal commissions; see Ministry of general affairs (English: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications): なるほど！選挙 > 選挙管理機関 for a basic overview of election administration commissions in Japan.] AKB48's Minami Takahashi, Tomomi Itano and Yui Yokoyama (also of NMB48) were appointed as image characters.

Result
The result was a landslide victory for Inose, who received 4,338,936 votes, setting a new record for the total number of votes in a Tokyo gubernatorial election. The previous record was 3.61 million cast for the socialist Governor Ryokichi Minobe in 1971.