2002 Okinawa gubernatorial election

A gubernatorial election was held on 17 November 2002 to elect the Governor of Okinawa (山口県, Okinawa-ken), who is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan.

2002 Okinawa gubernatorial election

17 November 2002
Turnout	57.22 9.32
Governor before election Keiichi Inamine LDP Elected Governor Keiichi Inamine LDP

Candidates

• Keiichi Inamine, 69, incumbent (elected in 1998), backed by LDP, NK and NCP.
• Masanori Yoshimoto, 65, former vice governor of Okinawa prefecture, endorsed by DPJ, SDP, OSMP, LP.
• Shigenobu Araki, 60, president of Okinawa Prefecture Medical Co-op, chairman of the local chapter of JCP.
• Mitsuo Matayoshi, 54, a conservative Protestant preacher. He led his own party, the World Economic Community Party.

Results

Okinawa gubernatorial election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democratic	Keiichi Inamine *	359,604	64.38	11.95
	Democratic	Masanori Yoshimoto	148,401	26.57	19.38
	Communist	Shigenobu Araki	46,230	8.38	n/a
	World Economic Community Party	Mitsuo Matayoshi	4,330	0.67	0.30
Total valid votes			558,565	98.91
Turnout			564.751	57.22	9.32
Registered electors			987.030
	Liberal Democratic hold		Swing	37.81

This is the first time that the JCP has presented a candidate of its own, outside the opposition alliance.

References

• Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at ja:2002年沖縄県知事選挙; see its history for attribution.