Hashimoto Dictatorship

Former Osaka governor Toru Hashimoto pulled off a big victory in the Osaka mayoral election and his top aide Ichiro Matsui also won the gubernatorial election on Nov. 27th, helping their metropolis idea to take a major step forward.

Voter turnout in the mayoral election was the highest in 40 years at 60.92%.


The election generated a great deal of interest not only inside but also outside Osaka.



Hashimoto has proposed to reform Osaka's administrative structure because he said the city hall and the prefectural office overlap in their functions.


That landslide victory shows voters' frustration and their overwhelming support for some radical changes.





I think that result is really hard for civil servants working in Osaka.


And I also think his educational reform plan must be extreme.


But here is the fact that Hashimoto's hostility toward the present civil servants went well to arouse young voters' interest.


How many civil servants will support the possible new Osaka??




More or less, and for better or worse, something will change soon under his autocracy...