Tokyo governor race begins with Koike, opposition-backed Renho clash

Official campaigning for the Tokyo gubernatorial election began on Thursday, with incumbent Yuriko Koike, who is seeking to secure her third four-year term with the effective backing of the ruling bloc, challenged by the main opposition-backed politician Renho.The focus of the July 7 race, viewed as a proxy war between the national ruling and opposition parties, will be on whether Tokyo's around 11 million voters want a change in the metropolitan government from that under Koike, who became the first female leader of Japan's capital in 2016.Tokyo's gubernatorial race always draws significan…READ FULL ARTICLE