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Kochi Gov. Hashimoto not to seek another term

KOCHI, Japan - Kochi Gov. Daijiro Hashimoto tells a press conference on Aug. 1 that he will not run in the gubernatorial election widely expected to take place later in 2007. Asked why, Hashimoto said, ''When I considered the relationship between the state and local government, I felt there is a limit to what a governor can do.''

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Japan opposition party decides to dissolve

OSAKA, Japan - Shintaro Ishihara, one of the two co-heads of the Japan Restoration Party, is projected on a screen via video link at an extraordinary party meeting held in Osaka on June 22, 2014. The opposition party decided at the meeting to dissolve with its two co-leaders, Ishihara, former Tokyo governor, and Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, set to lead separate parties.

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Japan opposition party decides to dissolve

OSAKA, Japan - Shintaro Ishihara, one of the two co-heads of the Japan Restoration Party, is projected on a screen via video link at an extraordinary party meeting held in Osaka on June 22, 2014. The opposition party decided at the meeting to dissolve with its two co-leaders, Ishihara, former Tokyo governor, and Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, set to lead separate parties.

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Japan opposition party decides to dissolve

OSAKA, Japan - Toru Hashimoto, one of the two co-heads of the Japan Restoration Party, speaks at an extraordinary party meeting in Osaka on June 22, 2014. The opposition party decided at the meeting to dissolve with its two co-leaders, former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara and Hashimoto, Osaka mayor, set to lead separate parties.

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Japan opposition party decides to dissolve

OSAKA, Japan - Toru Hashimoto, one of the two co-heads of the Japan Restoration Party, speaks at an extraordinary party meeting in Osaka on June 22, 2014. The opposition party decided at the meeting to dissolve with its two co-leaders, former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara and Hashimoto, Osaka mayor, set to lead separate parties.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who is also co-head of the opposition Japan Restoration Party, attends a press conference in Osaka on Feb. 3, 2014. Hashimoto officially announced his resignation as mayor and said he will run again in a mayoral election to gain support for his main policy goal -- the merger of Osaka prefectural and municipal governments.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto (R), who is also co-head of the opposition Japan Restoration Party, and Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui, who is also secretary general of the JRP, look at each other during a press conference in Osaka on Feb. 3, 2014. Hashimoto officially announced his resignation as mayor and said he will run again in a mayoral election to gain support for his main policy goal -- the merger of Osaka prefectural and municipal governments.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who is also co-head of the opposition Japan Restoration Party, heads for a press conference in Osaka on Feb. 3, 2014. Hashimoto officially announced his resignation as mayor and said he will run again in a mayoral election to gain support for his main policy goal -- the merger of Osaka prefectural and municipal governments.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who is also co-head of the opposition Japan Restoration Party, attends a press conference in Osaka on Feb. 3, 2014. Hashimoto officially announced his resignation as mayor and said he will run again in a mayoral election to gain support for his main policy goal -- the merger of Osaka prefectural and municipal governments.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who is also co-head of the opposition Japan Restoration Party, attends a press conference in Osaka on Feb. 3, 2014. Hashimoto officially announced his resignation as mayor and said he will run again in a mayoral election to gain support for his main policy goal -- the merger of Osaka prefectural and municipal governments.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who is also co-head of the opposition Japan Restoration Party, attends a press conference in Osaka on Feb. 3, 2014. Hashimoto officially announced his resignation as mayor and said he will run again in a mayoral election to gain support for his main policy goal -- the merger of Osaka prefectural and municipal governments.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who is also co-head of the opposition Japan Restoration Party, attends a press conference in Osaka on Feb. 3, 2014. Hashimoto officially announced his resignation as mayor and said he will run again in a mayoral election to gain support for his main policy goal -- the merger of Osaka prefectural and municipal governments.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who is also co-head of the opposition Japan Restoration Party, bows during a press conference in Osaka on Feb. 3, 2014. Hashimoto officially announced his resignation as mayor and said he will run again in a mayoral election to gain support for his main policy goal -- the merger of Osaka prefectural and municipal governments.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto (R), who is also co-head of the opposition Japan Restoration Party, speaks at a press conference in Osaka on Feb. 3, 2014. Hashimoto officially announced his resignation as mayor and said he will run again in a mayoral election to gain support for his main policy goal -- the merger of Osaka prefectural and municipal governments. At left is Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui, who is also secretary general of the JRP.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who is also co-head of the opposition Japan Restoration Party, attends a press conference in Osaka on Feb. 3, 2014. Hashimoto officially announced his resignation as mayor and said he will run again in a mayoral election to gain support for his main policy goal -- the merger of Osaka prefectural and municipal governments.

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Japan Olympic delegation head

SOCHI, Russia - Photo shows Seiko Hashimoto (C), Japan delegation head of the Sochi Olympics, with Hidehito Ito (L) and Toshimasa Furukawa, members of the delegation, after a press conference in Sochi, Russia, on Feb. 2, 2014.

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Japan Olympic delegation head

SOCHI, Russia - Seiko Hashimoto, Japan delegation head of the Sochi Olympics, holds a press conference in Sochi, Russia, on Feb. 2, 2014.

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Japan Olympic delegation head

SOCHI, Russia - Seiko Hashimoto, Japan delegation head of the Sochi Olympics, holds a press conference in Sochi, Russia, on Feb. 2, 2014.

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Japanese athletes to enter Olympic Village

SOCHI, Russia - Japanese athletes and officials, led by Seiko Hashimoto (2nd from L), head of Japan's delegation to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, walk to a ceremony marking the entry of teams into the Olympic Village in Sochi, Russia, on Feb. 2, 2014.

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Japanese athletes at ceremony for Olympic Village entry

SOCHI, Russia - Japanese athletes and officials pose for photos on the stage at a ceremony for their entry into the Olympic Village in Sochi, Russia, on Feb. 2, 2104. From left to right in the front row are women speed skaters Miyako Sumiyoshi, Misaki Oshigiri, Nana Takagi and Ayaka Kikuchi. Seiko Hashimoto, head of the Japanese delegation to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, stands third from right in the top row.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto to quit

TOKYO, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who doubles as co-head of the Japan Restoration Party, speaks at the party convention in Tokyo on Feb. 1, 2014. Hashimoto expressed later that day his intention to quit as mayor and run for reelection to gain public support for his goal of creating an Osaka metropolitan government through the merger of the prefectural and municipal governments.

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Newly elected Osaka Gov. Hashimoto gets down to work

OSAKA, Japan - Newly elected Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto (R) and outgoing Gov. Fusae Ota shake hands at the prefectural office in Osaka on Feb. 6 after Hashimoto took office from Ota as Japan's youngest governor at the age of 38.

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Onda Festival in western Japan

HASHIMOTO, Japan, Jan. 29 Kyodo - A performer dressed as a Tazume comic female character entertains spectators during the Onda Festival at Niutsuhime Shrine, a World Heritage site in Katsuragi, western Japan, on Jan. 21, 2018. Agricultural actions are performed at the festival to pray for a good harvest.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto to temporarily quit as party co-leader

TOKYO, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto (R) and Osaka Gov. Ichiro Matsui attend an executives' meeting of the Japan Innovation Party at a Tokyo hotel on Dec. 23, 2014. The opposition party accepted the resignations of Hashimoto, a party co-leader, and secretary general Matsui, albeit that their resignations might be effective only until spring.

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Quality dried persimmons for New Year

HASHIMOTO, Japan - Choicest dried persimmons on skewers named "hyakujyu," meaning centenarian, for New Year ornaments are encased in Japanese cypress boxes at Kongobuji, the head temple of Koyasan Shingon Buddhism, in the Wakayama prefectural town of Koya, western Japan, on Dec. 15, 2014.

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Japan Innovation Party's Hashimoto on lower house election

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, one of the co-heads of the opposition Japan Innovation Party, holds a press conference at an Osaka hotel on the results of the lower house election on the night of Dec. 14, 2014. Hashimoto said his party "failed to win public confidence."

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Ebizo, comedy duo win Yahoo Japan's search awards

TOKYO, Japan - Kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo (L), Koyuki Hashimoto (C) and Soko Nakano of comedy duo Nippon Elekiteru Rengo receive Yahoo Japan Corp.'s 2014 search awards in Tokyo on Dec. 8, 2014, as they observed big jumps in the number of searches for their names on the Internet in 2014 from the previous year.

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Entertainers who saw jumps in Yahoo searches in 2014

TOKYO, Japan - Yahoo Japan Corp.'s search awards winners who saw jumps in the number of searches for their names on the Internet in 2014 from the previous year attend a ceremony in Tokyo on Dec. 8, 2014. They are beatboxer HIKAKIN, idol group member Kanna Hashimoto, kabuki actor Ichikawa Ebizo, comedy duo Koyuki Hashimoto and Soko Nakano of Nippon Elekiteru Rengo and model Miwako Kakei (from L).

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Big wooden plaque at Shinto shrine before sheep year

HASHIMOTO, Japan - Shiro Miyazaki, chief priest of the Niukanshobu Shrine in Kudoyama, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, shows off a large wooden plaque depicting sheep on Dec. 7, 2014, before the start of 2015 or the Year of the Sheep in the Chinese zodiac calendar. The Shinto shrine is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site involving pilgrimage routes in the Kii Mountain Range.

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Premium brand persimmon hits market

HASHIMOTO, Japan - A staffer of a local branch of the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives group shows a box filled with "Yume" (Dream) premium-brand persimmons in Kudoyama, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Dec. 4, 2014, on the first day of shipment.

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Election campaign begins with focus on "Abenomics"

OSAKA, Japan - Toru Hashimoto, co-leader of the opposition Japan Innovation Party, kicks off his party's campaign for the Dec. 14 general election in Osaka on Dec. 2, 2014. The opposition camp will try to end the one-party dominance by the Liberal Democratic Party, which held nearly 300 of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives before it was dissolved two weeks ago.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto may run in next lower house election

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who also acts as the co-leader of the opposition Japan Innovation Party, makes a speech in the western Japan city of Osaka on Nov. 15, 2014. He indicated he may run in the next lower house election that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to call soon.

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Osaka Mayor Hashimoto may run in next lower house election

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto, who also acts as the co-leader of the opposition Japan Innovation Party, makes a speech in the western Japan city of Osaka on Nov. 15, 2014. He indicated he may run in the next lower house election that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to call soon.

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Vetro Montagna classic car festival starts in Mt. Koya

HASHIMOTO, Japan - Various types of classic cars are parked at the exhibition site of the Vetro Montagna Koyasan classic car festival on Nov. 8, 2014, at Mt. Koya in Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan.

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Start of nuke fuel-reprocessing plant delayed again

AOMORI, Japan - Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. Senior Executive Vice President Junichi Ishihara (rear R) conveys to Susumu Hashimoto (foreground), deputy in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Oct. 30, 2014, a plan to push back the inauguration date for a nuclear fuel-reprocessing plant to March 2016, the 22nd delay.

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Repaired hall of Shinto shrine shown to press

HASHIMOTO, Japan - The repaired main hall of the Niutsuhime Shinto shrine in Katsuragi, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, at the foot of Mt. Koya, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is shown to the press on Oct. 27, 2014, ahead of the transfer of its enshrined deity to the refurbished shrine in November, the first such ritual in 37 years.

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Osaka mayor meets with anti-Korean group leader

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto (C) leaves after cutting short a meeting with Makoto Sakurai, leader of Zaitokukai, a civic group known for its hate speech against Korean residents of Japan, at the Osaka municipal offices on Oct. 20, 2014.

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Osaka mayor meets with anti-Korean group leader

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto (2nd from L) and Makoto Sakurai (far R), leader of Zaitokukai, a civic group known for its hate speech against Korean residents of Japan, stand up and exchange harsh words during their meeting at the Osaka municipal offices on Oct. 20, 2014.

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Osaka mayor meets with anti-Korean group leader

OSAKA, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto (L) holds a meeting with Makoto Sakurai, leader of Zaitokukai, a civic group known for its hate speech against Korean residents of Japan, at the Osaka municipal offices on Oct. 20, 2014.

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Osaka mayor meets with anti-Korean group leader

OSAKA, Japan - Combination photo shows Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto (L) and Makoto Sakurai, leader of Zaitokukai, a civic group known for its hate speech against Korean residents of Japan, during their meeting at the Osaka municipal offices on Oct. 20, 2014.

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Jison-in's pagoda lit up for Pink Ribbon campaign

HASHIMOTO, Japan - Jison-in "tahoto," a pagoda at the Buddhist temple in Kudoyama town in Wakayama Prefecture, turns pink on Oct. 18, 2014, to appeal for the importance of breast cancer's early detection and rapid cure. Jison-in is part of the Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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Forum held on feudal Japanese warlord Sanada Yukimura

HASHIMOTO, Japan - A forum on feudal warlord Sanada Yukimura is held in Kudoyama, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Oct. 11, 2014. The Japanese samurai warrior (1567-1615) hid himself there for 14 years in the evening of his life.

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Ex-sex slaves in their 80s recount ordeals with Japanese soldiers

MANILA, Philippines - Hilaria Bustamante, a former Filipino "comfort woman," talks about her experiences in Japanese wartime military brothels on Oct. 2, 2014, in Manila, the Philippines, while presenting a letter of apology she received from then Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.

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PM Abe's wife performs "naginata" demonstration

TOKYO, Japan - Akie Abe (L), wife of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Kumiko Hashimoto, widow of former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, perform a demonstration of "naginata," a Japanese martial art using a long wooden sword with a curved blade, at a Japan-Russia martial arts exchange event on Oct. 4, 2014, in Tokyo.

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Celebrities attend event marking 400th anniv. of Osaka siege

OSAKA, Japan - Celebrities in traditional armor suits pose in front of Osaka Castle in western Japan during an event on Oct. 1, 2014, to mark the 400th anniversary of the "Winter Siege of Osaka" in feudal Japan. From R: Osaka Governor Ichiro Matsui, kabuki actor Ainosuke Kataoka, singer Akiko Wada, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and event executive committee head Shinya Hashizume.

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Celebrities start event for 400th anniv. of Osaka siege

OSAKA, Japan - Celebrities in traditional armor suits cut the ribbon to open an event commemorating the 400th anniversary of the "Winter Siege of Osaka" in feudal Japan. From L: Kabuki actor Ainosuke Kataoka, singer Akiko Wada, Osaka Governor Ichiro Matsui, Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and event executive committee head Shinya Hashizume.

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National World Heritage tourism summit held in Japan

HASHIMOTO, Japan - Michiyo Kubo, a World Heritage site researcher, gives a lecture at a "summit" on national World Heritage tourism on Sept. 29, 2014, at Koyasan University in Koya, Wakayama Prefecture. Mt. Koya in the western Japan prefecture was registered on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2004.

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2 opposition parties merge into Japan's 3rd-largest party

TOKYO, Japan - Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto (L) and Kenji Eda, a House of Representatives lawmaker, shake hands during a press conference at a hotel in Tokyo on Sept. 21, 2014, after becoming co-leaders of the Japan Innovation Party. Hashimoto's Japan Restoration Party and Eda's Yuinotoh party merged to create the Japan Innovation Party, Japan's third-largest party and second in the opposition bloc.

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'Matsutake' mushrooms auctioned off for high price

HASHIMOTO, Japan - Hidenori Kawai, a food shop owner in Hashimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, shows "matsutake" mushrooms from Koya in the western Japan prefecture bought in his successful bid at a local market on Sept. 16, 2014. The highest winning bid was 60,000 yen per kilogram, which would fetch a retail price of around 10,000 apiece.

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Well-wishers light candles at shrine in western Japan

HASHIMOTO, Japan - Well-wishers light candles during a festival at Hikari-sanbo-kojin shrine in Hashimoto, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, on Sept. 3, 2014.