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Will Fee

Tactical voting, unity and impassioned pleas from some of the nation’s biggest celebrities helped a left-wing coalition score a surprise win over the far-right in France’s legislative election on July 7. The result is widely being hailed as a victory for French democracy, and a display of unity in the face of creeping extremism.
Nearly 10,000km away in Tokyo, there is no such enthusiasm. The same day, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike secured a third term at the helm of the world’s largest metropolis by population. Instead of the tactical voting seen in France, there was voter apathy in Tokyo.
A record number of candidates – a sizeable portion of them running on less-than-serious policy platforms – reduced the election run-up to a frustrating farce. Many voters simply switched off, with barely over 34 per cent of the eligible electorate turning up at the polling station.
That’s a troubling statistic for both Tokyo and all of Japan. Koike has scored some notable wins during her time in office, a reduction in childcare waiting times being the stand-out. But beyond that, her record is far from stellar. The Tokyo governor has failed to live up to a number of key campaign pledges, while the city’s total fertility rate dropped to its lowest ever mark in 2023. Many blame that on rising living costs during Koike’s tenure.
There has also been criticism of Koike’s relationships with large companies and special interests groups. Her use of taxpayer money to fund an elaborate illumination installation on the front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, has also raised eyebrows.
Still, Koike’s nearest rival was 18.5 percentage points behind when all the votes were counted. Former leader of the main national opposition party, Renho Saito, widely tipped as Koike’s strongest competitor, finished a distant third.

The poor performance of Saito – known in Japan by her first name, Renho – came as a particular surprise to observers. While some may say her leftist policy platform was always a hard sell to Tokyo’s conservative voters – not to mention the fact that the incumbent almost always wins in Japanese politics – simmering dissatisfaction with Koike’s record would suggest more of a robust challenge was likely.
Saito had scored points with some voters by opposing an unpopular tree-felling programme and by promising to open the “black box” of Tokyo’s finances. But as the campaign came to a head, the momentum began to shift decisively toward the incumbent.
Saito’s supporters are now crying foul play. They allege that major newspapers and broadcasters downplayed Koike’s involvement in various ongoing scandals, while also stifling Saito’s campaign. Her supporters also allege the largely pro-Koike opinions of the television punditocracy worked to reduce Saito’s candidacy to little more than a footnote, despite her billing as Koike’s most likely challenger.
All of which presents an interesting contrast to what occurred in France. The French people came out in their masses to vote, if not for the left-wing of the New Popular Front coalition as such, then at least in opposition against Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally.

That coordinated effort owed much to celebrities going public with their concerns about a win for the far-right. After French President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election, Kylian Mbappe, the French national football team captain, called for the public to vote against National Rally, as did other members of the team.
Multiracial France was in danger, they said, of descending into a chasm of extremism that it might not be able to climb out of. Their message resonated, the young in particular responding to the call to make their voices heard at the ballot box.
There was very little to compare that to in Japan. While a third Koike term is far from the existential threat to Japanese democracy that many feel the Le Pen-led far-right is in France, there was still the glaring lack of A-list celebrity voices that could have swayed an election away from Koike.
Without the reach of television – still the dominant means by which people consume the news in rapidly greying Japan – it remains difficult for political figures with alternative views to reach enough living rooms to make a difference in the polls.
Which is a shame, because as we saw in France last week, a few articulate words from the right person at the right time can have a real sway in politics, energising not only voters, but a nation’s democracy as a whole.
Will Fee is a British journalist and researcher based in central Tokyo


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Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike waves to supporters right before her re-election victory on July 7. Photo: Reuters/Kyodo

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Incumbent Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike celebrates after the Tokyo gubernatorial election on Sunday. Photo: AP

Incumbent Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike is handed a bouquet of flowers after exit polls projected her win in the Tokyo gubernatorial election on Sunday. Photo: AP

Renho speaks to the media after the gubernatorial election in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday. Photo: Kyodo News via AP

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Voters listen to a campaign speech for the coming governor election in Tokyo on June 20. Photo: EPA-EFE

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike (left) and Renho Murata attend a press conference in the Japanese capital on June 19. Photo: Reuters

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Electoral posters of Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella from the far-right party ‘Rassemblement National’ near party headquarters one day after their defeat in the second round of the parliamentary elections, in Paris, France. Photo: EPA-EFE

Marine Le Pen pictured during election night at Rassemblement National HQ for the second round of 2024 legislative elections. Photo: dpa

French President Emmanuel Macron votes for the second round of the legislative elections in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France on Sunday. Phot: Pool via AP

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Compared to the display of democratic enthusiasm in France, Tokyo’s gubernatorial race yielded a lacklustre vote in favour of the incumbent


Compared to the display of democratic enthusiasm in France, Tokyo’s gubernatorial race yielded a lacklustre vote in favour of the incumbent.


Asia elections

France

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


What France’s election had that Tokyo’s didn’t

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Compared to the display of democratic enthusiasm in France, Tokyo’s gubernatorial race yielded a lacklustre vote in favour of the incumbent

Compared to the display of democratic enthusiasm in France, Tokyo’s gubernatorial race yielded a lacklustre vote in favour of the incumbent