The Hyogo Prefectural gubernatorial election was held following the loss of office of the former governor, who was voted no-confidence by the Hyogo Prefectural Assembly over allegations of power harassment. The election was announced on the 31st, and the 17-day election campaign has begun. A record seven candidates are running. All are independents, and in order of filing: Former House of Councillors member Shimizu Takayuki [Independent, new Shimizu Takayuki candidate] "Hyogo Prefecture has enormous potential. First of all, we must properly rebuild Hyogo Prefecture from its chaos, return it to normal, and make Hyogo Prefecture shine even more." Former Amagasaki Mayor Inamura Kazumi [Independent, new Inamura Kazumi candidate] "We will create an open prefectural administration, a prefectural administration that works together with the community, and a prefectural administration that fulfills its responsibility for the future. Now is the time to create such an administration." Former Hyogo Governor Saito Motohiko [Independent, former Saito Motohiko candidate] "We will reflect on what we need to reflect on, and firmly correct what we need to change. We will firmly invest in young people - this is the main direction of Saito's administration." Communist Party-endorsed physician Osawa Yoshikiyo [Independent, Communist Party-endorsed, new Osawa Yoshikiyo candidate] "I want to create a prefectural administration in which prefectural government employees can fully utilize their abilities for the people of the prefecture." Company president Shigeyuki Fukumoto [Independent, new candidate Shigeyuki Fukumoto]: "How can we support children, the elderly, and people in their prime? Please tell me how you want Hyogo Prefecture to improve." Political party leader Takashi Tachibana [Independent, new candidate Takashi Tachibana]: "We must bring Saito back to prefectural government with an overwhelming number of votes. Let's work with that in mind for the next 17 days, and work together for justice." Company president Hirotsugu Kijima [Independent, new candidate Hirotsugu Kijima (49)]: "I will push forward even further with the major administrative reforms that Saito has been pushing forward. I want to merge Hyogo Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture to create a large economic zone that can rival Tokyo." The Hyogo Prefectural Governor election will test his qualifications as governor and his evaluation of the prefectural government so far. Voting will take place on November 17th. Early voting will begin on November 1st. ─━─━─━─━─━─━─━─━─━─━─━─━─━─━─━─ We deliver "easy news" in an easy-to-understand way, sports, and collaborative projects with the Nihon Keizai Shimbun every day! [Subscribe to the channel] https://www.youtube.com/c/tvosakanews... [SNS] ▶X(Twitter) / tvosaka_news ▶Facebook / tvosaka.news.fb ▶TikTok / tvonews ▶Instagram / tvonews