The 2023 Osaka mayoral election was held on 9 April 2023 as part of the 20th unified local elections.[1]
Election information
The election was scheduled to in response to the expiration of the term of mayor Ichiro Matsui on April 8, 2023. The incumbent expressed his intention to retire from politics at the end of his term due to the rejection of his proposal to abolish Osaka City and establish an Osaka Metropolis.[2]
Fujita, Honda, Matsunami, and Okazaki were primary candidates. Fujita, Honda, and Matsunami were defeated in the first round of voting, while Okazaki was eliminated in the final round, leading to the victory of Yokoyama [4]
Fujita Satoru - Osaka City Councillor (Joto Minato)
Honda Rie - Osaka City Councillor (Joto Ward)
Okazaki Futoshi - Osaka City Councillor (Higashinari Ward)
Kenta Matsunami - Osaka Prefectural Councillor for Takatsuki and Mishima cities), and former member of the House of Representatives.
Timeline
2022
September 30 - The Osaka Restoration Association announced its candidate.
December 10 - The Osaka Restoration Association announced that Hideyuki Yokoyama, the candidate who received the most votes in the preliminary election for mayor, would be its candidate.
2023
February 5 - It was reported that the political group "Update Osaka" intended to field Taeko Kitano, an Osaka City Councilor and former Secretary General of the LDP Osaka City Council. In order to gain broad support, Kitano is reportedly planning to leave the LDP and run as an independent candidate. On February 8, she officially announced her candidacy.[5]
February 21 - Toshihiko Yamazaki announced his candidacy.[6]
February 27 - Yasuhiko Aramaki announced his candidacy.
March 7 - Makoto Adachi announced his candidacy.
April 9 - Election held
Election results
The mayoral election was held on 9 April, 2023 and was won by Yokoyama Hideyuki of the Osaka Ishin (Restoration) Party. 2,214,966 Osaka City residents turned out to vote which included 1,059,525 male voters, and 1,155,441 female voters. Voter turnout was 48.33%, which was a drop from 52.7% in the previous 2019 election.[7]
City wide results
Candidate
Affiliation
Number of votes received
Yokoyama Hideyuki
Osaka Ishin (Restoration) Party
655,802
Kitano Taeko
Independent
(backed by Liberal Democratic Party and
Constitutional Democratic Party)[8]