Voters in Tokyo, Japan Sunday elected the city's first woman governor who promised a new era of clean politics after two predecessors quit over money scandals that have hindered the city's preparations to host the 2020 summer Olympic Games.
"I am pushing for a Tokyo where people's lives will be better, and everyone can shine, men and women, children and adults, the elderly and the disabled," Yuriko Koike said after media exit polls declared her the winner.
Koike, who previously served as Japan's defense minister, was elected out of a field of 21 candidates.
The election was called for after then-governor Yoichi Masuzoe stepped down after a financial scandal, the second successive city leader to resign.
Olympics preparations
One of Koike's first tasks will be to travel to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics as the representative of the city that will host the next games in 2020. The games in Tokyo are key to the recovery of Japan's economy, the world's third largest, which has been stagnant for more than a decade.
Planning for the 2020 Tokyo games have been plagued with problems, including skyrocketing costs, delays in the design and construction of the main stadium, and the need to redesign the Tokyo Olympics logo after the original design was reportedly plagiarized.
