Tokyo's female governor takes on Japan's old-boy network, but denies run for PM

Record ID: 877243

  • Title: Tokyo's female governor takes on Japan's old-boy network, but denies run for PM
  • Date: 30th May 2017
  • Summary: KOIKE DURING INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) GOVERNOR OF TOKYO, YURIKO KOIKE, SAYING: "What French president Emmanuel Macron is trying to do is to build a foundation for the parliament. I am doing the same - trying to put up completely new candidates and increase the new assembly members who aspire to reform in an upcoming July Tokyo metropolitan assembly poll." OLYMPICS BADGES (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) GOVERNOR OF TOKYO, YURIKO KOIKE, SAYING: "As a governor, what I want to achieve is a paradigm shift. The current population of Japan and Tokyo is still increasing, while it will start shrinking and ageing more in 2025. I'm currently preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, but crafting a vision for Tokyo in 2025 in order to make the city more sustainable." KOIKE’S EYES (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) GOVERNOR OF TOKYO, YURIKO KOIKE, SAYING: "The Tokyo chapter of the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) which I also belonged to, has the power to turn back the pace of reform, but it does not have the power to push forward. I know this fact and that's why I am challenging that."
  • Embargoed: 13th June 2017 09:45
  • Keywords: Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike Japan election Emmanuel Macron
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • City: TOKYO, JAPAN
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0026J14PQD
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is challenging Japan's old-boy network in the nation's capital, where she thrashed a ruling party rival to win her post and now aims to lead reform-minded candidates to victory in a city-wide July election.
    Koike, the former defence minister and now the first woman to govern the capital of Japan, says her sights are set firmly on a July 2 Tokyo metropolitan assembly poll, where she's targeting a majority for her fledgling "Tokyo Citizens First" party and its allies against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
    In an interview with Reuters on Monday (May 29), she compared herself to French president Emmanuel Macron, whose election marked a meteoric rise and whose party now needs a majority in June parliamentary elections so he can carry out reforms. She said she was trying to do the same as Macron - increase the new assembly members who aspire to reform.
    Koike, who is currently busy with preparing to host the 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, topped her long-term priorities in achieving a paradigm shift of Tokyo, with crafting a vision for Tokyo after 2025, when its population of about 13.7 million will start shrinking.
    Koike, as a former member of LDP, is willing to challenge the ruling party, which she said did not have the power to push forward the pace of reform.
    After nearly a year in office and thanks to her media savvy campaigns, her support ratings are still above 60 percent, prompting a spate of local defections from a struggling opposition Democratic Party and from the ruling LDP.
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