Tokyo Governor Yoriko Koike has announced her victory by voting for a second term to rule one of the most crowded cities in the world, and pledged immediately to intensify efforts to combat the recent rise in infections of the emerging coronavirus "Covid-19".
According to opinion polls conducted at the exit from polling stations, major media outlets - including the Japan Radio and Television Corporation - reported that Koike achieved a major victory with the end of the vote at 8 pm (11 am GMT), overcoming the challenges posed by a large group of candidates most of whom lacked Political experience.
Koike, 67, is a right-wing politician with experience and skill. She is a rare leader in Japanese-dominated Japanese politics and is seen as a potential candidate for prime minister, and has challenged conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
In recent months, she returned to the forefront by managing the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, speaking continuously to the 14 million population of the crisis in English, on a rare initiative in Japan.
Many observers said her smooth performance during the Covid-19 pandemic contrasted sharply with Abe, who critics say has spoiled Japan's response.
Koike delivered a victory speech on the Internet to a limited number of journalists to reduce the risk of contracting the virus, and the elected governor said that "the urgent issue is the Corona virus," while an increase in the number of infections - more than 100 infected daily in Tokyo - was recorded in recent days.
The Corona virus also overshadowed Sunday's vote, with polling station staff wearing masks, plastic gloves and strips on the ground to separate voters.
Voting places were sterilized after each use, and voters were urged to use hand sanitizers upon entry and exit.
Fidget of the Olympic Games
Koike begins her second term amid growing restlessness toward the Olympics, as a poll showed that more than half of the capital's residents do not believe the tournament should take place next year.
The Olympic Games - due to open on July 23, 2021 after a historic delay due to the epidemic crisis - were a major issue during the election campaign, and Koike pledged to cut the Games budget as much as possible.
Koike easily won a second term, but her opponents point out that in her first four years as governor of Tokyo, she was more interested in emerging in the media than doing her duties.
Koike - who is fluent in English and speaks Arabic - embraces the principle of "internationalism" rarely in Japanese politics, which is somewhat closed and focuses on internal affairs.
Koike, who was born in the western Asian city of Asia in 1952, studied at Kansai Gakuen University before graduating from Cairo University in Egypt in 1976.
After working as a translator for a while, she moved to work as a TV presenter, and she interviewed personalities, including the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The political procession
Koike first won a seat in the Japanese House of Advisors in 1992, before moving to the more powerful House of Representatives the following year.
She joined the ruling Japanese Democratic Liberal Party in 2002, assumed the post of environment minister in 2003, and in Abe Prefecture as the first prime minister, Koike worked as a special advisor, before becoming the first defense minister in Japan.
Despite her affinity with senior political figures, she enjoyed lukewarm support for the Liberal Democratic Party and failed to take over his leadership.
When she ran for governor of Tokyo in 2016, the Liberal Democratic Party supported another candidate, but Tokyo residents supported her enthusiasm for reform and elected her as the first governor of the Japanese capital, home to more than a tenth of Japan's population.
Koike was easily elected in 2016, becoming the first woman to head the giant capital.
Koike held the biggest political adventure in 2017 when she founded the "Party of Hope" that led the opposition to the Liberal Democratic Party led by Abe in the general election, and raised speculation that she would give up her role as Tokyo governor to run for prime minister.