Local News

After a meeting with Makoto Koga of Japan’s ruling Liberal-Democratic Party, Miyazaki Prefecture Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru said he would run on the condition that he be considered a candidate for party president. When some suggested he was joking, the governor insisted at a press conference he was serious, and said he was interested in running for the sake of Miyazaki Prefecture. He said there was a limit to how much he could change local conditions while working outside of national government. This is the clearest indication to date that the popular governor plans to run for the lower house of the Diet in the upcoming election.