OSAKA — Okinawa voters returned the prefecture's only Liberal Democratic Party Diet member, Aiko Shimajiri, to the Upper House in a contest closely watched by Tokyo and Washington for its connection with U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Campaigning under the slogan "Changing politics from the kitchen," the 45-year-old Shimajiri won Sunday with 258,946 votes, while her main challenger, Hiroji Yamashiro, 57, an independent supported by the Social Democratic Party, ended up with 215,690 votes.