Governor of Tokyo

Governor of Tokyo
Governor of Tokyo
東京都知事
	Flag of Tokyo
	Incumbent; Yuriko Koike; since 1 August 2016
	Tokyo Metropolitan Government
Style	Governor (informal); The Honourable (formal)
Residence	Tokyo Governor's Mansion (until 2014)
Appointer	Direct election
Term length	Four years, no term limit
Precursor	Governor of Edo Prefecture; Governor of Tokyo Prefecture; Mayor of Tokyo
Formation	May 3, 1947; 77 years ago
First holder	Seiichiro Yasui
Deputy	Lieutenant Governors of Tokyo

The Governor of Tokyo (東京都知事, Tōkyō-To Chiji) is the head of government of Tokyo.

In 1943, upon the unification of Tokyo City and Tokyo Prefecture, the position of Governor was created. The current title was adopted in 1947 due to the enactment of the Local Autonomy Law.

Overview[edit]

The Governor of Tokyo is the head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is elected by the citizens of Tokyo Metropolis every four years, most recently in the 2020 Tokyo gubernatorial election.

As Tokyo has the largest economy and population in the country, government policies can greatly affect national affairs, giving a governor significant influence in the country and a louder voice in the National Governors' Association.

The annual budget of Tokyo is about 13 trillion yen, ten times that of other prefectures and comparable to the national budget of Indonesia, so a governor also has a great deal of influence in the national economy.^[1] The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has more than 160,000 employees, making it by far Japan's largest employer.^[2]

Qualifications[edit]

Candidates must be a citizen of Japan and be a resident of Tokyo for more than three months, and must be over the age of 30. Candidates must also put up three million yen to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which will only be returned if they receive at least 10% of the votes.^[3]

List[edit]

Appointed, Tokyo Prefecture (1869–1943)[edit]

Karasumaru Mitsue (1868)
Ōki Takatō (1868–1869)
Mibu Motoosa (1869–1871)
Yuri Kimimasa (1871–1872)
Ōkubo Ichiō (1872–1875)
Kusumoto Masataka (1875–1879)
Matsuda Michiyuki (1879–1882)
Yoshikawa Akimasa (1882–1885)
Watanabe Hiromoto (1885–1886)
Takasaki Goroku (1886–1890)
Marquis Hachisuka Mochiaki (1890–1891)
Tomita Tetsunosuke (1891–1893)
Miura Yasushi (1893–1896)
Marquis Koga Michitsune (1896–1897)
Viscount Okabe Nagamoto (1897–1898)
Koizuka Ryū (1898)
Baron Senge Takatomi (1898–1908)
Hiroshi Abe (governor) (1908–1912, 1st time)
Hiroshi Abe (1919–1921, 2nd time)
Usami Katsuo (1921–1925)

Appointed, Tokyo Metropolis (1943–1947)[edit]

Shigeo Ōdachi (1943–1944)
Toshizō Nishio (1944–1945)
Hisatada Hirose (1945–1946)
Shōhei Fujinuma (1946)
Haruo Matsui (1946)
Seiichirō Yasui (1946–1947)
Kazumi Iinuma (1947)

Elected, Tokyo Metropolis (1947–present)[edit]

No.	Name (born – died)	Term of office		Party	Election
1	Seiichiro Yasui (1881–1962)	May 3, 1947	April 18, 1959	Liberal Democratic	1947 1951 1955
2	Ryutaro Azuma (1889–1964)	April 27, 1959	April 22, 1967	Independent^[a]	1959 1963
3	Ryokichi Minobe (1904–1984)	April 23, 1967	April 22, 1979	Independent^[b]	1967 1971 1975
4	Shunichi Suzuki (1910–2010)	April 23, 1979	April 22, 1995	Independent	1979 1983 1987 1991
5	Yukio Aoshima (1932–2006)	April 23, 1995	April 22, 1999	Independent	1995
6	Shintaro Ishihara (1932–2022)	April 23, 1999	October 31, 2012	Independent^[c]	1999 2003 2007 2011
7	Naoki Inose (1946–)	December 18, 2012	December 24, 2013	Independent^[d]	2012
8	Yōichi Masuzoe (1948–)	February 11, 2014	June 21, 2016	Independent^[c]	2014
9	Yuriko Koike (1952–)	August 2, 2016	Incumbent	Independent^[e]	2016 2020

Notes[edit]

^ Elected with the support of the LDP.
^ First elected with the support of the Japan Socialist Party and Japan Communist Party.
^ ^a ^b Elected with the support of the LDP and New Komeito.
^ Elected with the support of the LDP, New Komeito, and Restoration.
^ Elected with the support of the Tomin First in 2020.

References[edit]

^ "GDP by Country - Worldometer". www.worldometers.info.
^ "予算13兆円、職員16万人…東京都知事の権力と影響力（THE PAGE）". Yahoo!ニュース.
^ Fukada, Takahiro (February 8, 2011). "The second-most powerful job". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2022.

[a-4] Elected with the support of the LDP.

[b-5] First elected with the support of the Japan Socialist Party and Japan Communist Party.

[c-6] Elected with the support of the LDP and New Komeito.

[d-7] Elected with the support of the LDP, New Komeito, and Restoration.

[e-8] Elected with the support of the Tomin First in 2020.

[1] "GDP by Country - Worldometer". www.worldometers.info.

[auto-2] "予算13兆円、職員16万人…東京都知事の権力と影響力（THE PAGE）". Yahoo!ニュース.

[3] Fukada, Takahiro (February 8, 2011). "The second-most powerful job". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved November 12, 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[e]

v t e Governor of Tokyo
Tokyo Prefecture (1868–1947)	Karasumaru Mitsue Ōki Takatō Mibu Motoosa Yuri Kimimasa Ōkubo Ichiō Kusumoto Masataka Matsuda Michiyuki Yoshikawa Akimasa Watanabe Hiromoto Hachisuka Machiaki Tomita Tetsunosuke Miura Yasushi Koga Michitsune Okabe Nagamoto Koizuka Ryu Senge Takatomi Abe Hiroshi Usami Katsuo Shigeo Ōdachi Toshizō Nishio Hisatada Hirose Shōhei Fujinuma Haruo Matsui Seiichirō Yasui Kazumi Iinuma
Tokyo Metropolis (1947–present)	Seiichirō Yasui Ryotaro Azuma Ryokichi Minobe Shunichi Suzuki Yukio Aoshima Shintaro Ishihara Naoki Inose Yōichi Masuzoe Yuriko Koike
Tokyo Metropolitan Government

v t e Metropolitan (prefectural) elections in Tokyo since 1947
Assembly elections	1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021
Assembly by-elections	2005 2007 2010 2011 2012 2016 2020
Gubernatorial elections	1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2012 2014 2016 2020 2024