On July 29, following the results of polling for the House of Councillors election, the DPJ’s first-time candidate in the Okayama constituency, Yumiko Himei, aged 48, defeated LDP heavyweight and Secretary General of the LDP caucus in the House of Councillors Toranosuke Katayama, to win her first election to the upper house. The “princess’ [“hime” in Japanese] defeat of the ‘tiger’[“tora” the first character of Katayama’s given name]” [Himei’s election slogan] had been achieved.

At around 9:50 pm, NHK broadcasts reported that Himei was certain to be elected, and a great round of cheering and applause broke out from the many supporters who had been waiting for news of the result both inside and outside of her campaign office.

Looking back on the election campaign, Himei stressed the need for politics that looks at matters through the public’s eyes, saying, “I want to change politics starting with each individual. People took my hand and with tears in their eyes urged me to do something to change their current circumstances…I think that in this election campaign, people’s hopes and beliefs in this new kind of politics could be felt in each vote. I take my responsibility very seriously, and will aim to create a politics that can make everyone happy, a new kind of politics in which the majority of people can join together to create a wonderful nation, starting here in Okayama.”

(07/07/29)