Governor of Tokyo
In 1967, Minobe ran as the Communist and Socialist candidate for Governor of Tokyo. He defeated his two rivals, Rikkyo University president Masatoshi Matsushita (nominee of the LDP and DSP) and Shibusawa Shipping head Ken'ichi Abe (nominee of Komeito).
Among his many policy achievements, he is best known for:
- providing free health care for the elderly
- enactment of pollution controls
- converting streets in heavily trafficked areas to pedestrian-only use
- allowing the construction of the Korean School in Tokyo and exempting its owner, Chosen Soren, from local taxation
- ending government sponsorship to Korakuen Hall race tracks
In 1971, Minobe won re-election, defeating LDP candidate Akira Hatano. He was re-elected for a third term in 1975, with the backing of the Socialists, Communists, and Komeito. (His defeated rival, LDP candidate Shintarō Ishihara, later served as a cabinet minister and eventually won the Tokyo governorship in 1999.)
Many of Minobe's policies toward Chosen Soren, the Zainichi Korean group affiliated with North Korea were later undone by Ishihara in the aftermath of the revelation of North Korean abductions of Japanese.
Read more about this topic: Ryokichi Minobe
Famous quotes containing the words governor and/or tokyo:
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—For the State of Massachusetts, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
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—Jean François Lyotard (b. 1924)