With the Yokohama mayoral election days away, early voting is running about 30% ahead of the same point in last year’s race. By October 11, a total of 156,359 voters had cast their ballots early, according to the city’s election administration commission — adding fresh momentum to a contest that features an unexpected candidate: Riken Yamamoto, the 81-year-old architect who won the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize, widely regarded as architecture’s highest honor. His candidacy has drawn added attention to an election called following the resignation of incumbent Mayor Takeharu Yamanaka.

Yamanaka resigned following an investigation committee’s findings of harassment against senior city officials, prompting the mayoral race. Investigators found that he shouted at employees, threw documents, barred senior staff from his office and directed severe verbal insults at subordinates. Despite the investigation and his resignation, Yamanaka has decided to seek another term, returning to the race alongside Yamamoto and five other candidates. They include Atsumi Harasawa, a lawyer and former JAL aircraft mechanic who is backed by multiple major political parties. 

Harasawa and Yamanaka are seen as the leading contenders. Here’s a look at all seven in the race. 

Yokohama Mayoral Election: The Contenders 

Riken Yamamoto, 81 — Independent, architect

Winner of the 2024 Pritzker Architecture Prize, Yamamoto wrote in the foreword to his 2012 monograph that he was “not very good at design,” adding, “I am well aware of that. However, I do pay careful attention to what is around me.” He has held academic leadership positions at several Japanese universities but has no prior elected political experience. His campaign focuses on neighborhood association salons combining community activities, welfare and administrative services, alongside free minibuses and mini-taxis to improve transportation access for Yokohama residents.

Takeharu Yamanaka, 54 — Independent, former mayor

A former dean of Yokohama City University’s Graduate School of Data Science, Yamanaka defeated incumbent mayor Fumiko Hayashi in 2021 as an independent backed by opposition parties. He won re-election in August 2025 but resigned just over a year later following an investigation committee’s findings of harassment against senior city officials. His policies include universal junior high school lunches, digital administration and business attraction. He also firmly opposes a casino-integrated resort in Yokohama and supports promoting the Green×Expo 2027 horticultural exposition.

Atsumi Harasawa, 59 — Independent, backed by major parties

Harasawa worked for 12 years as a Japan Airlines (JAL) aircraft maintenance engineer before becoming a lawyer in 2009. She has experience in corporate governance and disaster relief as a reserve Self-Defense Forces officer, and has served on corporate boards. In an apparent contrast with Yamanaka’s harassment controversy, her campaign promises to “restore the smiles of city employees,” presenting workplace morale as essential to effective governance. Her priorities include disaster preparedness, childcare and regional economic growth. She also opposes reviving plans for a casino-integrated resort in Yokohama.

Kazuma Nakatani, 43 — Independent, CDP-backed

Raised in a single-mother household facing financial hardship, Nakatani was elected to the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly at 27, becoming its youngest member at the time. A former startup executive and secretary to ex-prime minister Naoto Kan, he entered the House of Representatives in 2017. His platform includes childbirth subsidies of up to ¥100,000, free childcare for second and subsequent children under two and free junior high school lunches. He also opposes casino resorts, pledges independent investigations into mayoral harassment and supports responsible AI use in city administration.

Yuka Asaka, 46 — Japanese Communist Party

A former systems engineer who later worked in international shipping and logistics, Asaka is vice chair of the JCP’s Kanagawa Prefectural Committee and a mother. She has previously run for both houses of Japan’s national legislature. Her campaign focuses on public services, affordable housing and cost-of-living relief. She proposes free childcare for children aged zero to two, free school lunches, better pay for care workers and expanded healthcare support. Other priorities include improved disaster shelters, climate action, citizen participation in urban development and protections against discrimination toward foreign residents.

Sachiko Fujikawa, 51 — Independent

A Tohoku University graduate with a master’s degree from the University of Sussex, Fujikawa has worked in research and nonprofit administration. A former Network Yokohama member, she leads a Kanagawa civic group focused on peace and democracy. She also opposed Yokohama’s proposed casino resort. Her campaign emphasizes citizen participation, transparency and greater autonomy for the city’s 18 wards. She proposes expanded housing and food assistance, free school meals and teaching materials, better support for children with foreign roots, multilingual services, renewable energy and improved public transportation.

Atsushi Fukuyama, 37 — Independent, Sanseito-backed

Born and raised in Yokohama, Fukuyama is an entrepreneur and former CyberAgent executive making his second mayoral bid after running in 2025, when he received 148,236 votes. A Keio University graduate and father of three, he has founded multiple companies and held senior management positions. His business-oriented platform emphasizes startup support, local industries and investment, alongside free childcare, expanded education subsidies and more transparent municipal spending. He also calls for scrutiny of Green×Expo 2027 costs and policies addressing foreign residents and neighborhood rules.

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Updated On October 15, 2026