The 1999 Tokyo gubernatorial election were held on April 11, 1999 as part of the
14th unified local elections. Incumbent
Yukio Aoshima announced that he would not seek re-election. All major candidates ran as independents but several were supported by major parties. The
Liberal Democratic Party, led by Secretary General
Yoshiro Mori, supported
Yasushi Akashi as a compromise with coalition partner
New Komeito, but local LDP legislators divided their support between candidates Ishihara, Masuzoe and Kakizawa.
Author and former Diet member
Shintaro Ishihara, who had previously come in second in the
1975 gubernatorial election against incumbent governor
Ryokichi Minobe,[1] won the election on a nationalist platform, saying that he would have the United States return
Yokota Air Base to Japan and clarify its position on Japan's ownership of the
Senkaku Islands. Akashi came in fourth, the poorest showing by an LDP-supported candidate in Tokyo history.[2]