Voters in Metropolitan Tokyo are selecting a new assembly today in an election that will likely have far-ranging implications for the politics of the country and the wider region. The Japanese capital's assembly has 127 members, and though no party is expected to win a majority (the two biggest parties are nominating just 50 and 60 candidates each), the party that comes out on top will likely shape the political futures of both Yuriko Koike, the city's popular Governor, and Shinzo Abe, the Japanese Prime Minister. Mr. Abe has remained relativley popular since coming to power in 2012, but he and his Liberal Democratic Party have been flagging in opinion polls in recent months, hit by a series of scandals.
The election is being viewed as a referendum between Governor Koike and Prime Minister Abe. A victory for the latter would likely bolster the Prime Minister's popularity ahead of national elections expected late this year or in early 2018. A victory for Ms. Koike, who recently left the LDP to form a rival political party, could set the stage for her return to national politics, which could make her Japan's first female Prime Minister.
The assembly elected today will also govern Tokyo when it hosts the world in the next summer Olympics in 2020.