Morioka mayor wins third term

Morioka Mayor Hiroaki Tanifuji secured a third four-year term Sunday after no one in the Iwate Prefecture capital filed to run against him by the registration deadline.

It is the first time in 60 years that Morioka has elected a mayor without a vote, the municipal election board said.

The city's coastal areas took severe damage during the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Tanifuji, 61, has pledged to promote reconstruction projects during his third term.

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