Financial Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki

Tanaka, a liberal novelist who has led Nagano Prefecture for most of the past six years, was defeated in an Aug. 6 election by governing party lawmaker Jin Murai, who won 53 percent of the vote.

Tanaka broke the mold in Japan's staid political circles, adopting as his emblem a mountain goat whose image he wore on his lapel.

Considered a rising star after his first election in 2000, Tanaka vowed to stop construction of new dams, believing they would be damaging to the environment.

He slashed the prefecture's outstanding debts, expanded medical benefits for young children and abolished the press club system that is frequently accused of exclusivity.

Tanaka lost the election as voters had grown tired of his showmanship and his endless battle with the prefectural assembly over dam construction.

Tanaka defended his record and warned that the country was abandoning its most vulnerable under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

"During this time, Japan as a whole abandoned social welfare and regional communities. It's as if the state is clinging on to a castle built on the sand of our material wealth," he said.

Tanaka hinted he would run for office again, amid speculation he will seek a Diet seat. He was briefly ousted from power in 2002 by the local assembly, only to be re-elected by a landslide.

Jiro Yamaguchi, a professor of politics at Hokkaido University, said Tanaka had alienated key voters through his reforms such as public employees and people in the construction industry.

Nagano residents "knew they could expect something new when they elected Tanaka, but they became uncomfortable as the negative aspects of his reforms have come to fore," Yamaguchi said.

Tanaka became famous as a student by writing the best-selling 1980 novel Nantonaku Crystal (Somewhat Crystal). He has continued to write for magazines, and has penned some lurid autobiographical accounts.

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 12, 2006
(C) All rights reserved