In the House of Representatives single-seat constituency election held on October 27, 2024, Hyogo 7th District was won by “Kenji Yamada.”
House of Representatives General Election Vote Count Updates | Nishinomiya City Website
In Hyogo 2nd District, which covers northern Nishinomiya, “Kazuyoshi Akaba” was elected.
Quoted from House of Representatives General Election Vote Count Updates | Nishinomiya City Website
By chance, Kenji Yamada’s office was inside Shukugawa Green Town, near the Nishitsu office, so we went there around 8 p.m.
Oh! It had that atmosphere you often see on TV.
There was even an MBS camera crew there!
By the way, the election program they were watching here was NHK. But since it had only just turned 8 p.m. and vote counting hadn’t even started yet, we decided to head back.
We came back around 10:30 p.m. Since this was a rare opportunity, even though we didn’t know whether he would win, we decided to stick around and follow the scene.
Apparently Shinjiro Koizumi had visited before too, and he was impressed by how convenient the Yamate Kansen route is between Nishinomiya and Ashiya, as well as by Shukugawa. Wish I could’ve met him〜
Kenji Yamada was apparently waiting at his home in Nishinomiya, about five minutes from here, and would come over once the situation became clear.
Just before midnight, a Sun TV camera crew joined in, and the mood started to feel like, “Wait, are they expecting him to win?”
A few dozen minutes later, there was a live broadcast from this campaign office, and everyone was watching that TV broadcast on the TV.
Everyone quietly watched the camera work during the broadcast. After it ended, they gave the cameraman a round of appreciative applause, almost as if to say, “Did we just win?!” It really felt like getting a peek behind the scenes.
When they saw on TV that Kenji Yamada had the highest number of votes (though he hadn’t been projected to win yet), there was another round of applause. People were saying things like, “He hasn’t actually won yet, though,” and the atmosphere was relaxed.
The time was 12:48 a.m. Someone let everyone know that Kobe Shimbun had projected him to win, and this was the scene right after. There was huge applause, and everyone looked so happy.
A few minutes later, Kenji Yamada arrived at the office.
He appeared in front of everyone and expressed his gratitude with a very deep bow.
The TV broadcast started right away, and when he looked at the TV and saw himself on screen, he reacted like, “Oh, ah, this is it. Haha.”
Also, since it was a live broadcast, there was actually quite a delay in the movements.
The thing you often see at campaign offices: three cheers of banzai.
He was presented with several bouquets too. He looked really happy.
Mayor Ishii also rushed over, and everyone got lively talking about things like, “The Nishinomiya City election board’s vote count was a little slow, so we were all on edge.”
He shook hands with all the supporters and everyone involved. After that, they happily took lots and lots of commemorative photos. The deputy mayor of Ashiya also came by to congratulate him. (Mayor Takashima seems to be away on a business trip
So, there you have it.
What did you think of this close-up look at a campaign office all the way up to the moment of victory, the kind of thing we’d only ever seen on TV? We may have more chances to show you rare behind-the-scenes moments in Nishinomiya, so stay tuned! We’ll also have a follow-up on the Jizo statue coming very soon!
