Thursday, August 03, 2017, 14:30 - 15:30

The state of the governor's administration and what lies ahead

 

Language: The speech will be in English and Q&A in Japanese with English interpretation

One year after toppling the establishment candidate to become Tokyo governor, Yuriko Koike has again shaken up Japanese politics by forming a new political party that scored a decisive victory in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly elections on July 2.

The win affirmed the appeal of her populist approach as she pitted her Tomin (Tokyoites) First party against the Tokyo branch of the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party. The setback for the LDP added to the woes of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has watched the approval rating of his Cabinet slide to new lows in public opinion polls.

A graduate of Cairo University, Koike was a TV newscaster before being elected to parliament in 1992. She switched her party affiliation twice and joined the LDP in 2002. She was Japan's first female defense minister in 2007 and missed her chance the next year to become the country's first female prime minister when she lost a bid for the party leadership. She has also served as national security adviser and environment minister.

The relocation of the Tsukiji fish market and the cost of hosting the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have been the two headline issues in her first year as Tokyo governor. After her election, she put well-advanced plans to move the fish market to Toyosu on hold because of pollution concerns. She also ordered her government to look into the possibility of changing some Olympic venues to reduce costs.

In the end, she dropped the more extreme proposals to relocate venues, and her government and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee hammered out a cost-sharing agreement for the Olympic Games. She also announced in June that the move to Toyosu would go ahead, though Tsukiji would be redeveloped as a food theme park.

Please reserve in advance, 3211-3161 or on the website (still & TV cameras inclusive). Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation.

Professional Activities Committee