{"id":177478,"date":"2026-05-12T13:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T04:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=177478&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2026-05-12T13:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T04:13:12","slug":"takashima-avoids-confirming-fifth-term-bid","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/takashima-avoids-confirming-fifth-term-bid\/","title":{"rendered":"Takashima Avoids Confirming Fifth-Term Bid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima declined to confirm whether he will seek a fifth term in this year\u2019s mayoral election, saying on May 11 that he would make a decision \u201cat the appropriate timing.\u201d Takashima, currently serving his fourth term, faces growing attention ahead of the election scheduled for November 15, with campaigning beginning on November 1. During a regular press conference, he acknowledged debate surrounding long-term concentration of political authority but did not comment further on his intentions. Takashima also said the city plans to expand early voting access by setting up polling stations in private commercial facilities in an effort to improve voter turnout. His current term expires on December 6. <strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/news.tnc.co.jp\/news\/articles\/NID2026051130283\" target=\"_blank\">TNC News<\/a> \/ <a href=\"https:\/\/kbc.co.jp\/news\/article.php?id=17318716&#038;ymd=2026-05-11\" target=\"_blank\">KBC News<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_mayor-takashima_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=1400%2C1050&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1050\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-177480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_mayor-takashima_2026_WEB.jpeg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_mayor-takashima_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_mayor-takashima_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fnn_mayor-takashima_2026_WEB.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><br \/>\nPhoto: Fukuoka Now<\/p>\n<p>Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &#038; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">free weekly newsletter<\/a> today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\">The Now<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\">this <strong>form<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fukuoka Mayor Soichiro Takashima declined to confirm whether he will seek a fifth term in this year\u2019s mayoral election, saying on May 11 that he would&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30292,"featured_media":177480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-177478","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-fukuoka-city","news-category-politics","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/177478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}