is the governor of Hyōgo Prefecture

Hyogo Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...

 in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, first elected in 2001. A native of Hyōgo Prefecture and graduate of the University of Tokyo

University of Tokyo

, abbreviated as , is a major research university located in Tokyo, Japan. The University has 10 faculties with a total of around 30,000 students, 2,100 of whom are foreign. Its five campuses are in Hongō, Komaba, Kashiwa, Shirokane and Nakano. It is considered to be the most prestigious university...

, he joined the Ministry of Home Affairs

Ministry of Home Affairs (Japan)

was a ministry in the Japanese government that existed from July 1, 1960 to January 5, 2001 and is now part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The head of the ministry was a member of a cabinet....

in 1968.

2009 election

Gov. Toshizo Ido was re-elected in 2009 to a third term. Ido, backed by the LDP, New Komeito and the Social Democratic Party, appeared to have easily defeated Kotaro Tanaka, 60, endorsed by the Japanese Communist Party. During the campaign, Ido publicized his achievements in promoting reconstruction following the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake and tackling the swine flu outbreak.

External links

• Official website