<figure id="attachment_387219" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1791px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-387219"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="780227f1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2024/08/5c97a51a705b3c07451bf59688a7a8e9.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-387219" class="wp-caption-text">Shinji Ishimaru came in second in the Tokyo gubernatorial election, ahead of Renho. After the election, he was all over the media. &#8230;&#8230;</figcaption></figure>
Just as the Paris Olympics were over, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida decided not to run for the presidency, plunging Nagata-cho into political turmoil. In the midst of all this, one man who is being forgotten is Shinji Ishimaru, who was the &#8220;eye of the storm&#8221; in the Tokyo gubernatorial election that was held on July 7.
Even on social networking sites
 &#8220;Oh, no, I haven&#8217;t seen him.
 &#8220;Is he already a person of the past?
 &#8220;He&#8217;s changing trends so fast!
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&#8220;I haven&#8217;t seen him since,&#8221; &#8220;Is he a past person now? In the Tokyo gubernatorial election, Mr. Kikuchi became a household name after receiving more than 1.65 million votes, second only to Governor Yuriko Koike.
What caused controversy was a press interview immediately after he lost the election.
He was criticized by Fuji Television&#8217;s &#8220;Mr. Sunday&#8221; for treating the interviewer, former &#8220;Nogizaka46&#8221; Rena Yamazaki, as an &#8220;amateur.
On the other hand, he showed his comical side by appearing on the nighttime variety show &#8220;All Night FujiCo&#8221; (Fuji TV) and on a video game live-streaming YouTube channel. An entertainment reporter for a sports paper wrote
 He is elusive. Normally, he is a friendly, good-natured young man who is recognized by everyone. But his character changes depending on the media and the program. He may be calculating everything, but I don&#8217;t know what he is thinking.
He is a &#8220;unknown presence.
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His &#8220;unknown presence&#8221; has been popular and he has been featured in the media since his election as governor of Tokyo, but his exposure has clearly decreased recently.
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The Japanese athletes won a record 20 gold medals at the Paris Olympics, which closed on August 12. The Japanese archipelago was glued to the Olympics.
After the Olympics, Nagata-cho was in an uproar over Prime Minister Kishida&#8217;s decision not to run for the presidency. The &#8220;post-Kishida&#8221; candidates included Shigeru Ishiba, former secretary general; Taro Kono, digital minister; Toshimitsu Mogi, secretary general; Sanae Takaichi, minister of economy and security; Yoko Kamikawa, minister of foreign affairs; and younger names such as Shinjiro Koizumi, 43-year-old former environment minister, and Takayuki Kobayashi, 49-year-old former minister of economy and security, known as &#8220;Kobahawk.
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 The media is also taking the trouble to bring up Mr. Ishimaru at this point in time. The media is not going to bother to feature Mr. Ishimaru at this time,&#8221; said a TV station official.
However, a sudden decrease in media exposure carries the risk of being treated as a &#8220;person of the past.
 However, a sudden decrease in media exposure carries the risk of being treated as a &#8220;person of the past. If Mr. Shinjiro were to become the next prime minister, he would certainly be a symbol of political rejuvenation. Mr. Ishimaru, who is the same age as Mr. Koizumi, may lose some of his value,&#8221; said a political insider.
In a YouTube program &#8220;ReHacQ&#8221; in July, Mr. Ishimaru was asked to have a discussion with Mr. Shinjiro.
 I&#8217;m totally up for it!
However, with the presidential election in full swing, it is unclear if Shinjiro would bother to agree to a dialogue.
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 Ishimaru&#8217;s secret meeting with Tadashi Yanai, chairman and CEO of Fast Retailing, was reported in the Weekly Bunshun as if he had failed to win their support. Ishimaru, who had come from a banking background and prided himself on being an economic expert, apparently did not meet Yanai&#8217;s expectations. Although Mr. Ishimaru himself has maintained a bullish stance, this incident may come back to haunt him like a body blow in the future.
Mr. Ishimaru has avoided making any statements about his future. There is a possibility that the presidential election will be followed by a general election, and the political world is in a flurry of activity.
 What will Ishimaru do then? If he does not take any action, he will be no different from a mere commentator. Especially if other prime ministers of the same generation, such as Shinjiro and Kobayashi, become prime ministers, Ishimaru&#8217;s &#8220;presence&#8221; is likely to diminish dramatically. His &#8220;strength&#8221; is, after all, his confrontational structure with &#8220;old politicians&#8221; who are the symbols of the existing political parties. &#8230;&#8230;
says a TV station official. It is a well-known fact that when he was mayor of Aki Takata City, he became well-known for his SNS comment that reprimanded an elderly &#8220;dozing&#8221; councilor, which became a hot topic.
On the 14th, the day Prime Minister Kishida announced his decision not to run for the presidential election, Ishimaru updated his X and reported that it was his birthday. He uploaded a photo of beer and
 《Referring to that, I turned 42 years old. I hope to live well so that I can continue to drink well from now on.
He posted, &#8220;I will continue to live well so that I can drink well. It will be interesting to see how he moves forward with his health.

 Takayuki Ogawauchi

 Shinji Ishimaru, former mayor of Aki Takata City, won the Tokyo gubernatorial election against Renho and came in second. After the election, he was all over the TV and other media, but he has not been seen much recently. ......


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