VZCZCXRO1513
OO RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHOK #0633 3110738
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 070738Z NOV 06
FM AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0616
INFO RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO IMMEDIATE 7786
RUEAWJA/DOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 0161
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA PRIORITY 2268
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA PRIORITY 0149
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA PRIORITY 0172
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0400
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 1097
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 0018
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0023

UNCLAS OSAKA KOBE 000633 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR E, EB, EAP/J 
STATE PASS USTR FOR AUSTR CUTLER AND MBEEMAN 
STATE PASS FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FOR GENERAL 
COUNSEL BLUMENTHAL 
FTC ALSO FOR INTL ANTITRUST - TRITELL/SHANAHAN 
JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST DIVISION 
NSC FOR TONG 
USDOC FOR ITA/OFFICE OF JAPAN MELCHER 
PARIS FOR USOECD 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD ECON PGOV JA
SUBJECT: WAKAYAMA GOVERNOR RESIGNS OVER BID RIGGING 
 
REF: 1) Osaka Kobe 00588 
 
¶1. (U) On November 6, the unfolding public works bid 
rigging case in Wakayama finally claimed the political 
career of its most prominent target: Governor Yoshiki 
Kimura.  The final straw for Governor Kimura, who until 
his surprise announcement insisted he would not step 
down over the widening probe into his administration, 
appears to have been when ruling party LDP lawmakers 
threatened to submit a no-confidence motion in the 
Prefectural Assembly.  Kimura's close advisor, Wakayama 
Treasurer Satoaki Mizutani, is already under arrest for 
his involvement in the case.  Kimura will remain in 
office until December 2.  The by-election will be held 
on December 17, ahead of a 50-day clock set by statute. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Halfway through his second four-year 
gubernatorial term, Kimura has consistently emphasized 
the need for strong ties to the U.S., capitalizing on 
the Wakayama-Florida sister state relationship to forge 
personal ties with Governor Jeb Bush while his outgoing 
and English-fluent wife conducted two "first lady 
exchanges" with Mrs. Bush.  Mrs. Kimura most recently 
traveled with Mrs. Bush to Rome in July.  He personally 
greeted commanding officers of U.S. Navy ships making 
port calls on Wakayama, and this year he established 
the Japan-America Society of Wakayama. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The 54-year old Osaka native is an outsider to 
Wakayama, where political interlocutors say his reforms 
of Wakayama's important forestry industry and other 
measures ran into opposition by vested interests in 
this politically and socially conservative corner of 
the Kansai district.  Wakayama, although relatively 
poor, is home to two influential LDP politicians: ex- 
METI Minister Toshihiro Nikai, and Prime Minister Abe's 
Public Relations Special Advisor Hiroshige Seko.  Media 
contacts assert to poloff that Kimura's troubles really 
started after he fell out of grace with Nikai, sometime 
prior to his first reelection bid.  Insiders claim the 
LDP's tardy support for the incumbent governor's 
campaign is evidence of Nikai's displeasure with 
Kimura, possibly over the extent of his reforms. 
(Nikai's brother and personal secretary once related to 
poloff that the politician would rather keep 
mountainous and isolated Wakayama's road system 
primitive than allow outsiders to shake up the 
electoral politics of the prefecture.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) Once the LDP came around for his reelection, 
Kimura ran with the broad support of all mainstream 
parties, winning handily.  Although it is still too 
early to identify candidates, it is almost certain that 
a conservative successor close to either Nikai or Seko 
will soon emerge.  We do not expect this scandal or the 
by-election to affect national politics. 
 
RUSSEL