2025 Japanese gubernatorial elections
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10 gubernatorial elections were held in Japan in 2025.
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Background
The Japanese political process has two types of elections.
- National elections (国政選挙, kokusei senkyo)
- Subnational/local elections (地方選挙, chihō senkyo)
While the national level features a parliamentary system of government where the head of government is elected indirectly by the legislature, prefectures and municipalities employ a presidential system where chief executives and legislative assemblies are directly elected, independently from each other. Many of the prefectural and municipal elections are held together in unified local elections (統一地方選挙, Tōitsu chihō senkyo) since 1947, held in years before leap years;[1] but since each election cycle of every chief executive or assembly of any prefecture or municipality is independent and not reset after resignations/deaths/recalls/no-confidence votes/dissolutions/municipal mergers, there are also many non-unified local elections today. Prefectural and municipal assemblies are unicameral, the National Diet is bicameral, with the two houses on independent election cycles.
Yamagata Prefecture
The 2025 Yamagata gubernatorial election was held on January 26, 2025. It was won by the incumbent Mieko Yoshimura.[2]
| Date | Before election | After election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Party | Governor | Party | |||
| January 26, 2025 | Mieko Yoshimura | Independent | Mieko Yoshimura | Independent | ||
| Sources: [2] | ||||||
| Candidates | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mieko Yoshimura (Incumbent) | Independent | 318,364 | 94.7% | |
| Jun Nakayama | Independent | 17,794 | 5.3% | |
| Sources: [2][3] | ||||
Gifu Prefecture
The 2025 Gifu gubernatorial election was held on January 26, 2025. It was won by Yoshihide Esaki.[5]
| Date | Before election | After election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Party | Governor | Party | |||
| January 26, 2025 | Hajime Furuta | Independent | Yoshihide Esaki | Independent | ||
| Sources: [5] | ||||||
| Candidates | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yoshihide Esaki | Independent | 436,418 | 76.3% | |
| Wada Reiko | Independent | 135,224 | 23.7% | |
| Sources: [5][6] | ||||
Chiba Prefecture
The 2025 Chiba gubernatorial election was held on March 16, 2025. It was won by the incumbent Toshihito Kumagai.[8]
| Date | Before election | After election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Party | Governor | Party | |||
| March 16, 2025 | Toshihito Kumagai | Independent | Toshihito Kumagai | Independent | ||
| Sources: [8] | ||||||
| Candidates | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toshihito Kumagai (Incumbent) | Independent | 1,404,905 | 85.9% | |
| Masayuki Ogura | Independent | 140,435 | 8.6% | |
| Takashi Tachibana | Anti-NHK | 79,060 | 4.8% | |
| Atsuhiko Kurokawa | Tsubasa | 10,948 | 0.7% | |
| Sources: [8][9] | ||||
Fukuoka Prefecture
The 2025 Fukuoka gubernatorial election was held on March 23, 2025. It was won by the incumbent Seitaro Hattori.[11]
| Date | Before election | After election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Party | Governor | Party | |||
| March 23, 2025 | Seitaro Hattori | Independent | Seitaro Hattori | Independent | ||
| Sources: [11] | ||||||
| Candidates | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seitaro Hattori (Incumbent) | Independent | 1,036,280 | 79.7% | |
| Koichiro Yoshida | Independent | 209,416 | 16.1% | |
| Nobuo Shindo | Independent | 27,952 | 2.1% | |
| Takahiro Fujimaru | Okane o Min'na e Shin Dokuritsu-Tō | 27,394 | 2.1% | |
| Sources: [11][12] | ||||
Akita Prefecture
The 2025 Akita gubernatorial election was held on April 6, 2025. It was won by the newcomer Kenta Suzuki.[14]
| Date | Before election | After election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Party | Governor | Party | |||
| April 6, 2025 | Norihisa Satake | Independent | Kenta Suzuki | Independent | ||
| Sources: [14] | ||||||
| Candidates | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenta Suzuki | Independent | 273,270 | 58.4% | |
| Kazuzo Saruta | Independent | 189,382 | 40.5% | |
| Norio Okubo | Independent | 5,345 | 1.1% | |
| Sources: [14][15] | ||||
Wakayama Prefecture
Following the death of then governor Shūhei Kishimoto on April 15, the 2025 Wakayama gubernatorial special election was held on June 1, 2025. It was won by incumbent acting governor Izumi Miyazaki.[A][17]
| Date | Before election | After election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Party | Governor | Party | |||
| June 1, 2025 | Izumi Miyazaki[A] | Independent | Izumi Miyazaki | Independent | ||
| Sources: [17] | ||||||
| Candidates | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Izumi Miyazaki (incumbent)[A] | Independent | 250,454 | 84.1% | |
| Michiko Matsuzaka | JCP | 47,215 | 15.9% | |
| Sources: [17][18] | ||||
Mie Prefecture
The 2025 Mie gubernatorial special election was held on September 7, 2025. It was won by the incumbent governor Katsuyuki Ichimi.[20]
| Date | Before election | After election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Party | Governor | Party | |||
| September 7, 2025 | Katsuyuki Ichimi | Independent | Katsuyuki Ichimi | Independent | ||
| Sources: [20] | ||||||
| Candidates | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Katsuyuki Ichimi (incumbent) | Independent | 366,887 | 65.5% | |
| Masashi Ito | Independent | 164,504 | 29.4% | |
| Tsuyoshi Ishikawa | Independent | 28,429 | 5.1% | |
| Sources: [20][21] | ||||
Ibaraki Prefecture
The 2025 Ibaraki gubernatorial election was held on September 7, 2025. It was won by the incumbent governor Kazuhiko Ōigawa.[23]
| Date | Before election | After election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Party | Governor | Party | |||
| September 7, 2025 | Kazuhiko Ōigawa | Independent | Kazuhiko Ōigawa | Independent | ||
| Sources: [23] | ||||||
| Candidates | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kazuhiko Ōigawa (incumbent) | Independent | 447,833 | 58.3% | |
| Shigehiro Tanaka | Independent | 162,216 | 21.1% | |
| Masahiko Uchida | Independent | 158,585 | 20.6% | |
| Sources: [23][24] | ||||
Miyagi Prefecture
The 2025 Miyagi gubernatorial election was held on October 26, 2025. It was won by the incumbent governor Yoshihiro Murai.[26]
| Date | Before election | After election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Party | Governor | Party | |||
| October 26, 2025 | Yoshihiro Murai | Independent | Yoshihiro Murai | Independent | ||
| Sources: [26] | ||||||
| Candidates | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yoshihiro Murai (incumbent) | Independent | 340,190 | 39.3% | |
| Masamune Wada | Independent | 324,375 | 37.5% | |
| Miyuki Yusa | Independent | 176,287 | 20.4% | |
| Nobuto Ito | Independent | 20,445 | 2.4% | |
| Jun Kanayama | Independent | 3,663 | 0.4% | |
| Sources: [26][27] | ||||
Hiroshima Prefecture
The 2025 Hiroshima gubernatorial election was held on November 9, 2025. It was won by the newcomer Mika Yokota.[29]
| Date | Before election | After election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | Party | Governor | Party | |||
| November 9, 2025 | Hidehiko Yuzaki | Independent | Mika Yokota | Independent | ||
| Sources: [29] | ||||||
| Candidates | Party | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mika Yokota | Independent | 552,614 | 83.4% | |
| Mayumi Inohara | Independent | 75,468 | 11.4% | |
| Hiroshi Oyama | Independent | 34,333 | 5.2% | |
| Sources: [29][30] | ||||
Notes
- Miyazaki only serves as the acting governor following the death of Shūhei Kishimoto
See also
- 2025 in Japan
- Other elections in Japan in 2025