Kitaakita elections

Eikoh Tsuya, current mayor of Kitaakita City

Kitaakita City has held mayoral elections in April every four years since 2005, the year of its establishment.

City mayors

#	Mayor	Term	Remarks
1	Susumu Kishibe 岸部　陞	2005 - 2009 (1 term)	Mayor of Takanosu Town 2003-2005
2	Eikoh Tsuya 津谷　永光	2009 - present (5 terms)	Incumbent

2025 mayoral election

Elections took place on Sunday, April 6, 2025.

Incumbent Eikoh Tsuya defeated newcomer Takashi Abukawa to win his 5th term. This was the first mayoral election in Kitaakita in 12 years.

Abukawa had previously served as a city councilor in Kitaakita City.

City Mayor

Candidate	Age	Position	Affiliation	Supported by	Count	Percentage
Eikoh Tsuya 津谷　永光	73	Incumbent	Independent	Komeito	9,602	60.7%
Takashi Abukawa 虻川　敬	52	New	Independent	-	6,215	39.3%

169 ballots were declared invalid.

(source)

2021 mayoral election

The election was scheduled to be held on April 4th, 2021. However only one contender announced candidacy, so the election was called without a vote.

Incumbent Eikoh Tsuya ran unopposed. He won his 4th term.

City Mayor

Candidate	Age	Position	Affiliation	Count
Eikoh Tsuya 津谷　永光	69	Incumbent	Independent	-

(source)

2017 mayoral election

The election was scheduled to be held on April 9th, 2017. However only one contender announced candidacy, so the election was called without a vote.

Incumbent Eikoh Tsuya ran unopposed. He won his 3rd term.

City Mayor

Candidate	Age	Position	Affiliation	Count
Eikoh Tsuya 津谷　永光	65	Incumbent	Independent	-

(source)

2013 mayoral election

Elections took place on April 7, 2013.

Incumbent Eikoh Tsuya defeated newcomer Motoharu Narita to win his 2nd term.

Narita had formerly served as administrative director of Yonaizawa General Hospital (currently Yonaizawa Medical Office)

City Mayor

Candidate	Age	Position	Affiliation	Count	Percentage
Eikoh Tsuya 津谷　永光	61	Incumbent	Independent	14,673	72.2%
Motoharu Narita 成田　元晴	63	New	Independent	5,641	27.8%

(source)

2009 mayoral election

Elections took place on April 12, 2009.

Incumbent mayor Susumu Kishibe retired at the end of his term, so this election was decided between two newcomers. Eikoh Tsuya defeated Tetsu Iwakawa to become the second mayor of Kitaakita.

Tsuya had previously served as a prefectural assemblyman, affiliated with the LDP.

Iwakawa had previously served three terms as the mayor of Takanosu Town, losing in the 2003 mayoral elections to Susumu Kishibe.

City Mayor

Candidate	Age	Position	Affiliation	Count	Percentage
Eikoh Tsuya 津谷　永光	57	New	Independent	17,916	68.5%
Tetsu Iwakawa 岩川　徹	60	New	Independent	8,243	31.5%

(source)

2005 mayoral election

Elections took place on April 17, 2005.

This was the first mayoral election held following the establishment of Kitaakita City. Susumu Kishibe defeated Mitsuko Kozuka to become the first mayor of Kitaakita.

Susumu Kishibe was the incumbent mayor of Takanosu Town at the time of its merger into Kitaakita City.

Mayoral duties were temporarily fulfilled by Shusuke Sato, the incumbent mayor of Aikawa Town, in the period between Kitaakita City's founding on March 22 and the election of Kishibe on April 17. Sato would go on to serve as deputy mayor under Kishibe.

Mitsuko Kozuka had previously served as a town councilor in Takanosu Town.

City Mayor

Candidate	Age	Position	Affiliation	Count	Percentage
Susumu Kishibe 岸部　陞	68	New	Independent	17,056	65.4%
Mitsuko Kozuka 小塚　光子	58	New	Independent	9,030	34.6%

(source)(source)(source)(source)

Incumbent mayors pre-merger

The following is the list of incumbent mayors of each of the four towns which merged to form Kitaakita at the time of merger.

In Takanosu, Susumu Kishibe resolutely defeated incumbent mayor Tetsu Iwakawa (岩川 徹) in 2003 to win his first term (9,294 to 6,174). Iwakawa ran on a platform opposing the merger of Takanosu with Aikawa Town, Moriyoshi Town, and Ani Town into Kitaakita City. Iwakawa had served three terms (12 years).

In Moriyoshi, Kondo Ken'ichiro ran unopposed in 2004, winning without an election. The incumbent mayor, Kyutaro Matsuhashi (松橋 久太郎), resigned at the end of his term. Matsuhashi had served three terms (12 years).

In Ani, newcomer Sho(Akira?) Hamada defeated fellow newcomer Seiichi Kobayashi (小林 精一) by a single vote (1,475 to 1,474). Hiroyasu Yamada (山田 博康) came in a distant third (552 votes). This election followed the resignation of incumbent mayor Imai (今井 乙麿) at the end of his term. Imai had served three terms (12 years). Hamada ran as an independent.

In Aikawa, Shusuke Sato defeated incumbent mayor Yotaro Kaneta (金田 陽太郎) in 2002 to win his first term. Both candidates ran as independents. Kaneta had served two terms (8 years).

Town Mayors

Town	Name	Age	Elected	Term
Takanosu	Susumu Kishibe 岸部　陞	68	April 27, 2003	1st
Moriyoshi	Kondo Ken'ichiro 近藤　健一郎	49	October 26, 2004*	1st
Ani	Sho(?) Hamada 濱田　章	79	June 24, 2001	1st?
Aikawa	Shusuke Sato 佐藤　修助	61	December 23, 2002	1st?

* Date candidacy announced; ran unopposed (no election).

See also

• Kitaakita
• Kamikoani elections