Friday, 29 March 2024
Tokyo elects first female governor

Tokyo elects first female governor

Former Japanese Defence Minister Yuriko Koike has been elected to the role of Tokyo governor, the first woman to lead the capital.

Ms Koike received more than 2.9 million votes in Sunday's election, beating her opponents by a wide margin.

One of her key challenges will be curbing the financial problems plaguing Tokyo's preparations to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

Both her predecessors resigned over funding scandal.

"I will lead Tokyo politics in an unprecedented manner, a Tokyo you have never seen," Ms Koike, 64, told cheering supporters.

"While feeling the weight of this result, I want to thoroughly push the metropolitan government forward as the new governor."

Ms Koike is a member of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic party, but it did not endorse her so she ran as an independent.

She graduated from Cairo University in Egypt and was a TV journalist before entering politics.

Last modified on Tuesday, 02 August 2016 08:29