<figure id="attachment_371765" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-371765" style="width: 1664px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="f74425f4"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/05/ffd92d141ed37d0f7b5c6e830fb1e91b.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-371765" class="wp-caption-text">Former Governor Heita Kawakatsu is still being &#8220;eagerly awaited&#8221; in Shizuoka Prefecture. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
 On April 28, the LDP lost all of the three supplementary elections for the House of Representatives, including those in which the LDP did not field a candidate. The LDP is facing headwinds from issues such as politics and money and tax hikes.
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 Once the national election is over, attention will turn to the Shizuoka gubernatorial election, which will be held on May 9 and open for voting on May 26. Three candidates have announced their candidacies in the election, which will be held following the resignation of former Governor Heita Kawakatsu.
 The issue is, needless to say, the pros and cons of the Linear Central Shinkansen Line, which is not scheduled to open for business until 2015.
 Shinichi Omura, former vice governor, and Yasutomo Suzuki, former mayor of Hamamatsu City, both emphasize their &#8220;pro-Linear&#8221; positions. Daisuke Mori, chairman of the Communist Party of Japan&#8217;s Shizuoka Prefectural Committee, who announced his candidacy late in the race, has also expressed his &#8220;No&#8221; to the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant in addition to the linear line.
 At this point, it appears to be a one-on-one race between Mr. Omura and Mr. Suzuki. However, both are in favor of the linear project, and the people of the prefecture lack enthusiasm for it. Voter turnout for the three supplementary elections for the House of Representatives, which had been repeated in the news every day, was low, so we don&#8217;t have high hopes for the gubernatorial election either.
 Mr. Omura has appealed for a solution to the linear transportation problem through dialogue, but he has not offered any concrete measures.
 Mr. Suzuki has also stated that he will
 &#8220;We will try to strike a balance with the environment,&#8221; he said.
 He has repeatedly stated that he will &#8220;try to strike a balance with the environment&#8221; and that he is aware of Kawakatsu&#8217;s supporters, but his attitude is in flux.
 The biggest obstacle for Mori is the fact that he is a member of the Communist Party.
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 In the midst of all this, a group of citizens in Shizuoka Prefecture are signing a petition calling for Kawakatsu, who has submitted his resignation, to run for office again. About 10 people, including members of the &#8220;Citizens&#8217; Network Shizuoka for the Southern Alps and Linear Region&#8221; and the &#8220;620,000 People&#8217;s Movement to Protect the Life-giving Water of the Oigawa River,&#8221; an organization formed by residents of the Oigawa River basin, are the initiators of the campaign. The groups said
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The people of Shizuoka Prefecture do not see any advantage in passing the Linear Linear project..."></div>
Governor Kawakatsu stood up to the national government and JR to protect the water and the environment, which are vital to the people of the prefecture. I appreciate his stance very much.&#8221;
 The governor also called for Kawakatsu to run again because Omura and Suzuki are pro-Linear Linear Linear project.
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 Kawakatsu, who met with the group, said, &#8216;I am grateful for the recognition,&#8217; but he is negative about running again. Although Kawakatsu&#8217;s gaffes are all over the national news, it is also true that he has more supporters in the prefecture than expected.
 This is also why the candidates do not outright deny Kawakatsu. The candidate who captures more votes from Kawakatsu supporters will win.
 There are concerns about changes in the flow rate and water quality of the Oi River due to the construction of the Linear Line, and although JR has conducted a thorough boring survey and is working to alleviate these concerns, the prefectural government is still not fully aware of the details of the project.
 However, &#8220;few people in the prefecture are aware of the details of the project. Many people still have a rather vague image of &#8216;the end of water if the Linear Linear line passes through.
 The fact that there will be no Linear station in Shizuoka has not stopped people in the prefecture from thinking about the benefits of Linear.
 &#8220;I can&#8217;t think of any advantage of having a Linear Linear line in Shizuoka.
 I can get along without it.
 In response, Mr. Kawakatsu was asked by the local media to &#8220;take the initiative&#8221; and &#8220;make a decision.
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 I think that&#8217;s why they asked Kawakatsu to run again. The opening of the Linear Line is a national project. From the perspective of other prefectures, I think they have the impression that Shizuoka Prefecture is being a bureaucrat and stopping a national project, but from the perspective of the people who live there, they say, &#8216;What we don&#8217;t need is what we don&#8217;t want.
 Even after his resignation, Kawakatsu still has influence. As one might expect, he has refrained from speaking out against election campaigns or specific candidates, but there is no telling what the future holds for the man who has become known for his &#8220;gaffes.
 We cannot take our eyes off the Shizuoka Prefecture gubernatorial race, which will determine the fate of the Linear Linear project.

 Yuri Adachi

 In May, a gubernatorial election will be held in Shizuoka Prefecture to choose the successor to Heita Kawakatsu, who was forced to resign after he was accused of making a "gaffe" that was racially offensive to his profession. One of the issues is the linear transportation issue involving the national government, but Shizuoka has its own problems. ......

Heita Kawakatsu asked to run for governor again&#8230;&#8221; Why we hear little criticism of Kawakatsu in the Shizuoka Prefecture gubernatorial election, where linear rail is a major issue

Heita Kawakatsu asked to run for governor again…” Why we hear little criticism of Kawakatsu in the Shizuoka Prefecture gubernatorial election, where linear rail is a major issue

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