DPJ wins Fukushima upper-house seat; LDP gains Okinawa

The opposition Democratic Party of Japan captured an upper-house seat in Fukushima, one of the two prefectures where by-elections were held Sunday, while the governing coalition secured a seat in the other prefecture, Okinawa, election returns showed.

The outcomes of the two by-elections could have a major impact on the upper-house election this summer where the governing coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party is hoping to retain a majority, while opposition forces such as the DPJ will be seeking to outnumber the coalition.

Teruhiko Mashiko, 59, running on the DPJ ticket and backed by the opposition New People's Party, won the House of Councillors seat in Fukushima, beating candidates on the LDP and Japanese Communist Party tickets.

In Okinawa, former Naha city assembly member Aiko Shimajiri, 42, backed by the LDP and its ruling coalition ally, the New Komeito party, defeated Yoshimasa Karimata, 57, who was backed by the DPJ and other opposition parties.

"The victory in Okinawa is significant," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who doubles as LDP president, was quoted by party lawmakers as saying in a phone conversation with Hidenao Nakagawa, the party's secretary general.

Voter turnout in Okinawa was 47.81%, down from a record low 54.24% marked in the previous election. In Fukushima, it stood at 56.72%, down 3.62 percentage points from the July 2004 upper-house election.

Underscoring the importance of the by-elections, the LDP and DPJ both sent heavyweight politicians to drum up support in Fukushima and Okinawa, including Abe and DPJ leader Ichiro Ozawa.

Voters also cast ballots for mayoral elections in 77 cities, including Nagasaki, where the incumbent mayor was gunned down during campaigning, as well as 96 towns and villages, and 13 Tokyo wards. Also up for grabs were seats in local assemblies.

In the mayoral election in Toyo, Kochi Prefecture, Yasutaro Sawayama, a 63-year-old candidate opposed to a plan to host a nuclear dump site, defeated former Mayor Yasuoki Tashima, 64, who advocated the plan. It was a de facto referendum on whether people were willing to host a site for high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power stations.

In Nagasaki City, the mayoral election was overshadowed by the shooting death of incumbent Mayor Itcho Ito by a gangster during campaigning. Tomihisa Taue, 50, a former city government employee, defeated four other candidates including Makoto Yokoo, 40, a son-in-law of Ito.

Other municipalities also being closely watched in the second and last round of the unified regional elections include Yubari in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, a city that is undergoing fiscal rehabilitation after running up huge debts. Seven candidates contested the mayoral post.

Hajime Fujikura, a 66-year-old former company president, was elected mayor in Yubari.

In eight cities, candidates associated with the governing coalition and those linked with the opposition camp locked horns. The governing bloc won in five, while the opposition won in three including the city of Ginowan in Okinawa Prefecture, which may have some impact on the course of a plan to relocate a U.S. air station from the city.

In Ginowan, incumbent Mayor Yoichi Iha, supported by the DPJ and other opposition parties, was reelected, defeating a candidate backed by the LDP and New Komeito.

He is opposed to the plan to relocate the U.S. Marines Corps Futemma Air Station to another site within the prefecture as envisaged under an agreement between Japan and the United States.

Ballots were counted the same day in most constituencies. A limited number of municipalities are planning to count ballots the following day.

In the first round of the April regional election on April 8, the LDP lost seats in the prefectural assembly elections, while the DPJ sharply increased its presence, chiefly in urban constituencies.

The first round also picked governors for 13 of the nation's 47 prefectures, including Shintaro Ishihara, who was reelected to the post of Tokyo governor for a third consecutive term.

Regional elections are held concurrently on designated dates every four years to increase administrative efficiency and voter turnout.