Former journalist and broadcaster Takashi Uesugi (48) announced his candidacy for the open seat of Tokyo's governorship Wednesday, becoming the youngest candidate in history to run for the highest office in Asia's largest city.
Uesugi formerly worked for national broadcaster NHK and for The New York Times. He served as an aide to the late Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Kunio Hatoyama, and has authored more than 30 books, including The Collapse of Journalism.
Uesugi rose to national attention in 2011 as the first reporter to write of the high likelihood that reactor fuel at the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant had suffered a catastrophic meltdown after a tsunami that slammed into Japan's northeast coast on March 11 that year cut power to the facility.
He has stressed the need for transparency in government, disaster preparedness, public services, energy differentiation, and a desire to restore Tokyo's competitiveness as a center of business in Asia. He has also appealed to the youth vote; in June, Japan's Diet lowering the voting age to 18 from 20 in the most sweeping reform to the nation's electoral laws since 1945.
Running as a non-party affiliated independent, Uesugi has complained about not being invited to attend debates held between the other candidates vying for the governor's seat. Former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike (63), former internal affairs minister Hiroya Masuda (64) and veteran ex-journalist Shuntaro Torigoe (76) are also in the running.
Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe resigned in mid-June amid pressure over a political funds scandal. The election to replace him will take place on July 31.
