CHIBA-Five prefectural governors will swing through Chiba to stump for their preferred candidates in the Chiba gubernatorial election scheduled for March 13.

Visiting on Saturday are Kanagawa Governor Shigefumi Matsuzawa and Miyagi Governor Shiro Asano.

Osaka Governor Fusae Ota, Kumamoto Governor Yoshiko Shiotani, and Hokkaido Governor Harumi Takahashi will visit Chiba Prefecture on March 12.

All but Matsuzawa will announce their support for incumbent Chiba Governor Akiko Domoto, 72, who is seeking her second four-year term as an independent but is backed by the prefectural chapters of Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan), New Komeito and the Social Democratic Party.

Matsuzawa will express his support for Kensaku Morita, 55, an actor-turned-politician, who is running as an independent but is backed by the Chiba prefectural assembly members of the Liberal Democratic Party.

The third candidate is lawyer Yasutaro Yamada, 62, who is also running as an independent but is supported by the Japanese Communist Party.

Matsuzawa says he will support Morita, a former Lower House lawmaker, because Morita is calling for an alliance of the prefectures in the Tokyo metropolitan area, including Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures.

Matsuzawa has also advocated the establishment of the alliance, which could lead to a larger-scale local government system, called a doshusei, or provincial system.

Asano supports the incumbent Domoto because they have common views on welfare issues for people with disabilities. Ota, Shiotani and Takahashi share Domoto's stances on child rearing and other women's issues.(IHT/Asahi: March 5,2005)