Overview
- A conservative selection committee chose Genta Koja on January 11 as its final candidate for governor, positioning him as the effectively LDP-backed contender.
- Koja, 42, currently serves as Naha’s deputy mayor and is expected to resign before formally launching his campaign.
- Governor Denny Tamaki has indicated he will seek a third term, and the All Okinawa coalition plans to formally urge him to run on January 13.
- The committee interviewed four prospects, including the mayors of Ishigaki and Urasoe and a former prefectural assembly speaker, before unifying behind Koja.
- The vote will follow the current term’s expiry in September, with Koja pledging broad outreach at a Naha press conference and withholding a stated position on the Henoko relocation for now.