Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura speaks to reporters in Osaka on Jan. 13, 2026. (Kyodo)
OSAKA (Kyodo) — The Osaka governor and the Osaka mayor plan to resign their posts soon and run in a double election as part of efforts to seek public endorsement for their flagship policy, the “Osaka metropolis plan,” sources close to the matter said Tuesday.
The event is expected to be timed to coincide with a general election expected to follow a possible dissolution of the House of Representatives at the start of the ordinary parliamentary session scheduled to convene on Jan. 23.
Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura, who leads the prefectural government, and Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama, who runs the city administration, are both members of the Japan Innovation Party, known as Nippon Ishin, which struck a coalition deal with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party in October.
The Osaka-centric JIP has promoted the metropolis plan aimed at ending the concentration of power in Tokyo. The LDP opposed the proposal in two local referendums in 2015 and 2020, and it was rejected by voters.
Yoshimura, who has headed the JIP since 2024, has repeatedly emphasized the need for a “democratic process,” with an eye on a fresh double election, as a prerequisite for a third referendum under his leadership.
Recently, the party has advocated a “second capital” initiative to back up Tokyo at times of emergency. Yoshimura argues the metropolis plan is the “minimum requirement” for turning Osaka into a second capital by reorganizing it into an urban hub akin to Tokyo.
If the lower house were dissolved in late January, a general election would be held on Feb. 8 or 15, the sources said.
AloJapan.com