Kochi elects Ozaki as nation's youngest governor

KOCHI (Kyodo) Former Finance Ministry bureaucrat Masanao Ozaki was elected Sunday as governor of Kochi Prefecture and will replace the reformist Daijiro Hashimoto, who is stepping down after 16 years in office.

At 40 years old, Ozaki will be the youngest governor in the nation, beating Iwate Gov. Takuya Tasso by three years.

"A lot of people are wishing to do something with Kochi," Ozaki said after his victory. "I'd like to join forces with those people and work in the forefront."

Ozaki was backed by both the ruling and opposition camps, including the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito, the Social Democratic Party and the local chapter of the Democratic Party of Japan.

His three opponents were Masahisa Chikamori, 54, head of an organization running a high school; Yoshi Sekiya, 46, an employee of a newspaper publisher; and Masaru Kunimatsu, 68, a company president backed by the Japanese Communist Party.

They tried to win nonaffiliated voters by criticizing the "bandwagon" of ruling and opposition parties. However, they could not overcome the parties' organizational muscle behind Ozaki.

All four candidates ran as independents.

Hashimoto has been known as a reformer trying to break with old practices of governance.