In 2026, numerous local elections are scheduled to be held in Japan outside the unified local elections in 2023 and 2027, including 13 gubernatorial elections and other local elections, due to term expiry.
Background
Gubernatorial 12 gubernatorial elections are scheduled to be held in 2026.
Fukui Prefecture The 2026 Fukui gubernatorial election was held on 25 January 2026.
Background Incumbent Tatsuji Sugimoto stepped down from office on 4 December 2025 following allegations of sexual harassing staff using texts.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party 25 January 2026 Vacant None Takato Ishida Sources:
Yamaguchi Prefecture The 2026 Yamaguchi gubernatorial election was held on 8 February 2026.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party 8 February 2026Tsugumasa MuraokaTsugumasa MuraokaSources:
+CandidatesPartyVotes%Tsugumasa Muraoka (Incumbent) 414,83969.1 Machiko Arichika 156,39826.1 Masako Okubo 28,9974.8 Sources:
Nagasaki Prefecture The 2026 Nagasaki gubernatorial election was held on 8 February 2026.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party 8 February 2026Kengo Oishi Ken Hirata Sources:
+CandidatesPartyVotes% Ken Hirata 287,13448.3Kengo Oishi (Incumbent) 280,34647.2 Ryosuke Tsutsui 26,3904.4 Sources:
Osaka Prefecture
The 2026 Osaka gubernatorial election was held on 8 February 2026. Incumbent governor Hirofumi Yoshimura resigned on 22 January 2025.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party 8 February 2026Hirofumi YoshimuraHirofumi Yoshimura Sources:
+CandidatesPartyVotes%Hirofumi Yoshimura (Incumbent) 3,024,10683.2 Tsuneki Onishi 452,80712.5 Tamotsu Noto 155,8554.3 Sources:
Ishikawa Prefecture
The 2026 Ishikawa gubernatorial election was held on 8 March 2026.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party 8 March 2026Hiroshi HaseYukiyoshi Yamano Sources:
+CandidatesPartyVotes% Yukiyoshi Yamano 245,67449.65Hiroshi Hase (Incumbent) 239,56448.42Akira Kuroume9,5401.93 Sources:
Kyoto Prefecture
The 2026 Kyoto gubernatorial election was held on 5 April 2026.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party 5 April 2026Takatoshi NishiwakiTakatoshi Nishiwaki Sources:
+CandidatesPartyVotes%Takatoshi Nishiwaki (Incumbent) 412,58355.46Satoshi Hamada 181,99824.47Nobuo Fujii 149,33020.07 Sources:
Niigata Prefecture The 2026 Niigata gubernatorial election was held on 31 May 2026.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party 31 May 2026Hideyo HanazumiHideyo Hanazumi Sources:
+CandidatesPartyVotes% Hideyo Hanazumi (Incumbent) 554,012 66.92 Ryugo Tsuchida 230,721 27.87 Satoshi Annaka 43,089 5.21 Sources:
Shiga Prefecture
The 2026 Shiga gubernatorial election was held on 5 July 2026.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party July 2026Taizō MikazukiTaizō Mikazuki Sources: https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2026070500334/
+CandidatesPartyVotes% Taizō Mikazuki (Incumbent) 297,036 66.12 Motoshi Ōsumi 96,918 21.57 Ikuo Tsubota 39,044 8.69 Masaaki Sakamoto 16,245 3.62 Sources:
Nagano Prefecture The 2026 Nagano gubernatorial election was held on 9 August 2026.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party 9 August 2026Shuichi AbeShuichi Abe Sources:
+CandidatesPartyVotes% Shuichi Abe (Incumbent) 573,742 86.13 Ryōsuke Takeda 92,366 13.87 Sources:
Kagawa Prefecture The 2026 Kagawa gubernatorial election was held on 30 August 2026.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party 30 August 2026Toyohito IkedaToyohito Ikeda Sources:
+CandidatesPartyVotes% Toyohito Ikeda (Incumbent) 193,244 71.11 Fumihiko Senoo 49,296 18.14 Kenichi Tanabe 24,225 8.91 Katsunori Sone 4,986 1.83 Sources:
Okinawa Prefecture
The 2026 Okinawa gubernatorial election was held on 13 September 2026.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party 13 September 2026Denny TamakiGenta Koja Sources:
+CandidatesPartyVotes% Genta Koja 423,124 59.42 Denny Tamaki (Incumbent) 276,060 38.77 Shun Kaneshima 4,657 0.65 Takashi Higa 3,542 0.50 Chōsuke Yara 2,467 0.35 Masahiro Sueyoshi 2,270 0.32 Sources:
Fukushima Prefecture The 2026 Fukushima gubernatorial election is scheduled to be held on 25 October 2026.
Date Before election After election GovernorParty Governor Party November 2026Masao Uchibori Sources:
+CandidatesPartyVotes% Sources:
Mayoral January Legend: - Re-elected - Newcomer +DateCity/Town/VillagePrefectureWinner12 JanuaryMaebashiIbaraki Prefecture Akira Ogawa (Indp) () 17 JanuaryWassamuHokkaido Prefecture Koichiro Nakahara (Indp) 18 JanuaryNinoheIwate Prefecture Ichio Itsuka (Indp) (N) Iwaizumi Makoto Sasaki (Indp) (N) MinamisomaFukushima Prefecture Kazuo Monma (Indp) (R) AzuminoNagano Prefecture Eiki Nakayama (Indp) (N) TosashimizuKochi Prefecture Tetsuya Okazaki (Indp) (N) MakurazakiKagoshima Prefecture Yoshinari Maeda (Indp) (R) KusatsuGunma Prefecture Kimio Miyazaki (Indp) (N) ChonanChiba Prefecture Sadao Hirano (Indp) (R) Otaki Noboru Hirabayashi (Indp) (R) TakamoriNagano Prefecture Teruhiro Mibu (Indp) (R) Takagi Fumihiko Sato (Indp) (N) SatoshoOkayama Prefecture Isao Akagi (Indp) (N) KatsuuraTokushima Prefecture Takenori Nogami (Indp) (R) Kitajima Yasuhiro Furukawa (Indp) (R) 25 JanuaryHokutoHokkaido Prefecture Tatsuo Ikeda (Indp) (R) HanamakiIwate Prefecture Masaru Ohara Shiwa Kamata Sen'ichi (Indp) (N) Hirono Masayoshi Okamoto (Indp) (R) KitakataFukushima Prefecture Chūichi Endo (Indp) (R) Date Hiroyuki Suda (Indp) (R) HonjoSaitama Prefecture Yoshida Nobuyoshi (Indp) (R) Fukaya Susumu Kojima (Indp) (R) Kamikawa Akira Sakurazawa (Indp) (R) TakiMie Prefecture Hisayuki Tsutsui (Indp) (N) Kiho Mikiya Mukai (Indp) (N) HadanoKanagawa Prefecture Masakazu Takahashi (Indp) (R) GosenNiigata Prefecture Masayuki Tanabe (Indp) (R) AwaraFukui Prefecture Mori Noritsugu (Indp) (R) MinokamoGifu Prefecture Hiroto Fujii (Indp) (R) SusonoShizuoka Prefecture Yū Murata (Indp) (R) AyabeKyoto Prefecture Gentaro Shikata (Indp) (N) KaizukaOsaka Prefecture Jiro Ushio (One Osaka) (N) MitoyoKagawa Prefecture Akishi Yamashita (Indp) (R) KonanKochi Prefecture Gota Hamada (Indp) (R) Nakatosa Hiromitsu Ikeda (Indp) (R) KurumeFukuoka Prefecture Shingo Haraguchi (Indp) (R) UreshinoSaga Prefecture Takuya Yamaguchi (Indp) (N) MatsuuraNagasaki Prefecture Yoshiyasu Tomoda (Indp) (R) MiyazakiMiyazaki Prefecture Tomonori Kiyoyama (Indp) (R) KanoyaKagoshima Prefecture Takuo Gohara (Indp) (N) Ibusuki Akiji Uchikoshi (Indp) (R) NagoOkinawa Prefecture Taketoyo Toguchi (Indp) (R) Yaese Yasuhiro Arakaki (Indp) (R) NanbuAomori Prefecture Kudo Sukenao (Indp) (R) MisatoMiyagi Prefecture Seiichi Aizawa (Indp) (R) TakoChiba Prefecture Tomiko Hirayama (Indp) (R) TateyamaToyama Prefecture Takayuki Funahashi (Indp) (R) AnamizuIshikawa Prefecture Mitsuteru Yoshimura (Indp) (R) KamitondaWakayama Prefecture Makoto Okuda (Indp) (N) KotouraTottori Prefecture Mariko Fukumoto (Indp) (R) ChikujoFukuoka Prefecture Teruo Furuichi (Indp) (N) KusuOita Prefecture Masakazu Yadotori (Indp) (R) SoniNara Prefecture Tadahiro Hosoya (Indp) (N) KumaKumamoto Prefecture Yoshikazu Oiwa (Indp) (N) February Legend: - Re-elected - Newcomer +DateCity/Town/VillagePrefectureResult1 FebruaryTakahagiIbaraki Prefecture Natsunori Obe (Indp) (R) KawaguchiSaitama Prefecture Yuriko Okamura (Indp) (N) GifuGifu Prefecture Masanao Shibahashi (Indp) (R) KinokawaWakayama Prefecture Ken Kishimoto (Indp) (R) Aridagawa Sakato Tokuhiko (Indp) (N) HigashihiroshimaHiroshima Prefecture Hironori Takagaki (Indp) (R) ItoshimaFukuoka Prefecture Yuji Tsukigata (Indp) (R) ShibushiKagoshima Prefecture Shimodaira Haruyuki (Indp) (R) OdaiMie Prefecture Hiromi Uese (Indp) (N) MisatoMiyazaki Prefecture Nagao Taku (Indp) (N) OtakiNagano Prefecture Michihiro Koshihara (Indp) (R) 8 February Osaka Osaka Prefecture Hideyuki Yokoyama (One Osaka) (R)SosaChiba Prefecture Yasuyuki Miyauchi (Indp) (R)NamerikawaToyama Prefecture Tatsuo Mizuno (Indp) (N) EchizenFukui Prefecture Toru Hirabayashi (Indp) (N) NagahamaShiga Prefecture Nobuyoshi Asami (Indp) (R)TsuyamaOkayama Prefecture Satoshi Mitsui (Indp) (N)MinamataKumamoto Prefecture Toshiharu Kataoka (Indp) (R)RifuMiyagi Prefecture Yutaka Kumagai (Indp) (R)SakaiIbaraki Prefecture Masahiro Hashimoto (Indp) (R)TokigawaSaitama Prefecture Sakae Maeda (Indp) (N)OnoGifu Prefecture Kozo Usami (Indp) (R)WakasaTottori Prefecture Motoharu Kamikawa (Indp) (R) Hino Hiromu Kondo (Indp) (N) YomitanOkinawa Prefecture Atsushi Iha (Indp) (N)15 FebruaryRumoiHokkaido Prefecture Katsumi Masuda (Indp) (N)YotsukaidoChiba Prefecture Yosuke Suzuki (Indp) (R) MachidaTokyo Metropolis Koji Inagaki (Indp) (N)RokkashoAomori Prefecture Takaharu Hashimoto (Indp) (N)UmiFukuoka Prefecture Shigenobu Yasukawa (Indp) (R) 22 FebruaryYukuhashi Masahiro Kudo (Indp) (R)KomakiAichi Prefecture Masaki Amano (Indp) (N) KamoenaiHokkaido Prefecture Masayuki Takahashi (Indp) (R)AmiIbaraki Prefecture Shigeru Chiba (Indp) (R)EiheijiFukui Prefecture Hisamitsu Kawai (Indp) (R) AishoShiga Prefecture Kunitomo Arimura (Indp) (R)NankanKumamoto Prefecture Yasuhiko Sato (Indp) (R)
March Legend: - Re-elected - Newcomer DateCity/Town/VillagePrefectureResult1 MarchOiraseAomori Prefecture Mitsuhisa Narita (Indp) (N)KanegasakiIwate Prefecture Fumihiro Takahashi (Indp) (N)NishigoFukushima Prefecture Hiroshi Takahashi (Indp) (R)KoumiNagano Prefecture Hiroshi Kurosawa (Indp) (R) ShintomiMiyazaki Prefecture Soji Kojima (Indp) (R)
April Legend: – Re-elected – Newcomer DateCity/Town/VillagePrefectureResult5 AprilTsubataIshikawa PrefectureYosanoKyoto PrefectureKinOkinawa PrefectureWakeOkayama PrefectureEsashiHokkaido PrefectureKuriyama
June Legend: – Re-elected – Newcomer DateCity/Town/VillagePrefectureResult7 JuneIwateIwate PrefectureGodoGifu PrefectureNakanoTokyo MetropolisIwanumaMiyagi Prefecture
See also 2026 in Japan Other elections in Japan 2026 Japanese general election
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