Incumbent Mayors Fail

It has been politically strange for incumbent mayors who made crucial efforts in reconstruction to fail in being reelected in local elections in Fukushima prefecture. A common reason for voters was frustration against delay on decontamination of their lands covered by radioactive materials emitted from broken First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. It is not the responsibility of local government that Tokyo Electric Power Company and the national government have been incompetent in implementing their plan clearing the lands up. However, criticisms of the residents went forward to local leadership, missing target of their anger.

In the mayoral election of Fukushima City voted on Sunday, incumbent mayor, who kept the seat for twelve years, was defeated by a former bureaucrat in Ministry of Environment. The incumbent got wide supports from the right, Liberal Democrats, and the left, Social Democrats. Nevertheless, voters wanted change in reconstruction policy in Fukushima. Total votes the winner obtained was two times more than the incumbent. In other words, they rejected a mayor deeply connected with central authority of Japan.

Contaminated area in Fukushima prefecture has three major cities, among which City of Fukushima is the biggest. One of the other two, Koriyama, had chosen new mayor in April. Koriyama also has problems of cleaning up the land. In September, incumbent mayor in the City of Iwaki, last one of those three, was defeated by a former city assembly member. Iwaki has serious problem of immigrants, who were mainly the sufferers of the accident in the nuclear plant.

The cities were under contamination by radioactive materials. The Government of Japan assured that the radiation level would not “immediately” affect health of the people living there, the residents have been always worried about the impact especially on kids. Not being able to wait for governmental help, they scraped soils around their houses and kept them in their backyards, because they could not find the place for keeping contaminated soils. While they knew local government could do nothing for that until the national government determines concrete plan for decontamination, people in Fukushima had no choice to expect some change by new leaders.

The national government needs to understand this political phenomenon accurately. It is not only referendums for local politics, but strong denial against reconstruction policy by national government. It is intolerable for the people in Fukushima to leave contaminated water flowing out to the sea, force sufferers to live in shabby temporary houses in cold winter, or ignore their warnings on nuclear generation by resuming nuclear reactors in other places of Japan. This will bring a consequence in national election.