Fukuoka mayoral election on 15 November has 13 declared candidates

Who is running

Takashi Shirabe, 48, is a city councillor of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in his fourth term and a former television reporter. He runs as an independent. The LDP group in the city council decided to field him, and he said he would ask the party's headquarters for its endorsement.

Shuji Inatomi, 56, first won a seat in the House of Representatives, the lower house of Japan's parliament, in 2009 and served four terms in all. He lost in the general election of February 2026 as a candidate of the Centrist Reform Alliance, left that party in September and runs as an independent. Masaru Niimura, 46, is a city councillor and Hideki Abe, 31, a former one. Hisaya Watanabe, 58, is a former official of the trade ministry.

Keiko Yoshitomi, 37, an eye doctor, runs as an independent endorsed by Sanseito, a right-wing populist party. Kentaro Mori, 48, an artificial intelligence engineer, is the candidate of the Japan Conservative Party. Kiyoshi Inoue, 56, is the candidate of Genzei Nippon (Tax Cut Japan). Five more people have declared.

How the vote works

Candidates register on 1 November. Early voting runs from 2 to 14 November. On 15 November polling stations close at 8 p.m. local time, and the votes are counted the same day.

There is one round. The candidate with the most votes wins, but only with at least a quarter of all valid votes. If nobody reaches that share, the Public Offices Election Act requires the election to be held again. Fukuoka has not had this many candidates for mayor since the Second World War: the previous high was eight, in 2010.

How the race got here

Soichiro Takashima, 51, has been mayor for four terms. On the night of 23 August he announced on social media that he would not run again, saying he wanted to hand over to the next generation.

Shirabe declared on 11 September, Mori on 18 September and Yoshitomi on 29 September. By early October 12 people had announced a run at news conferences. Inatomi became the thirteenth on 11 October.

What happens next

1. Aug 23The mayor says he will not run again
2. today
3. Nov 1Candidates register
4. Nov 2Early voting begins
5. Nov 15Voting day
6. Dec 6The current mayor's term ends

Registration on 1 November fixes the list of candidates. The count on the evening of 15 November shows whether the leading candidate has reached a quarter of the valid votes. If so, the winner succeeds Takashima, whose term ends on 6 December 2026. If not, a new election is held.