Politics of Nagasaki
Politics of Nagasaki, as in all prefectures of Japan, takes place in the framework of local autonomy that is guaranteed by the Constitution and laid out in the Local Autonomy Law. The administration is headed by a governor directly elected by the people every four years in first-past-the-post elections. Legislation, the budget and the approval of personnel appointments, including the vice governor, are handled by the prefectural assembly that is directly elected by the people every four years by single-non transferable vote. With a population of less than 1.5 million in four counties and a total of 21 municipalities, Nagasaki is one of the smaller prefectures. Its fiscal strength index (zaiseiryoku shisū) was 0.30 in fiscal 2009 (rank 42 nationwide), it can cover less than a third of its calculated expenses with its own prefectural taxes. National representation Nagasaki's delegation to the national Diet currently consists of four directly elected Representatives and two Councillors, electing one every three years. For the House of Representatives, the prefecture forms part of the Kyūshū proportional representation block. As of August 2013, Nagasaki's directly elected members of the Diet are (not including Diet members who are from Nagasaki but were elected by proportional representation) in the House of Representatives 1st district: Tsutomu Tomioka, Liberal Democrat 2nd district: Kanji Katō, Liberal Democrat 3rd district: Yaichi Tanigawa, Liberal Democrat 4th district: Seigo Kitamura, Liberal Democrat in the House of Councillors (Nagasaki At-large district) class of 2010: Genjirō Kaneko, Liberal Democrat class of 2013: Yūichirō Koga, Liberal Democrat Governor Nagasaki's current governor is former vice governor Hōdō Nakamura who was elected in the election of 2010 with support from his predecessor Genjirō Kaneko against Democratic supported Tsuyoshi Hashimoto and five other candidates. Nakamura was re-elected for a second term in 2014 against only one Communist challenger; turnout hit an all-time low. However, Shingo Ōishi elected head-to-head resulting vote against current governor on Nagasaki governor election on February 20, 2022. Kuroiwa is the 8th elected governor since 1947. Past elected governors of Nagasaki: Sōjirō Sugiyama, independent (JSP), 1 term, 1947–1951 Takejirō Nishioka, independent (conservative), 2 terms, 1951–1958, died in office, Nishioka's son was Representative, Councillor and gubernatorial candidate Takeo Nishioka, Katsuya Satō, 3 terms, 1958–1970, Satō's son-in-law is former four-term governor of Kyōto , Kan'ichi Kubo, independent (elected as one of several LDP supported candidates), 3 terms, 1970–1982, Kubo's daughter is Ikuko Nakao, former mayor of Gotō, Nagasaki, Isamu Takada, 4 terms, 1982–1998, Genjirō Kaneko, independent (LDP), 3 terms, 1998–2010, Kaneko's father was Iwazō Kaneko, Representative from Nagasaki and minister in two cabinets. Hōdō Nakamura, 3 terms from March 2, 2010, to March 1, 2022. Shingo Ōishi, elected new governor from March 2, 2022. Assembly The Nagasaki Prefectural Assembly has currently 46 members. The number under the provisions of the Local Autonomy Law would be 52, but was reduced by prefectural regulations in 2003. Members are elected every four years in unified regional elections by single non-transferable vote (in single-member districts identical to first-past-the-post) in currently 16 electoral