A gubernatorial election was held on 1 September 2002 to elect the next governor of
Nagano (長野県, Nagano-ken), a
prefecture of
Japan located in the
Chūbu region of
Honshu island.
Candidates
Yasuo Tanaka, 46, incumbent since 2000, novelist. Meanwhile, he was officially not supported by any party, the
SDP and
JCP supported him.
Shu Ichikawa, 50, a board member of a Tokyo-based think tank led by Tokyo Gov.
Shintaro Ishihara (
LDP).
Chozo Nakagawa, 46, former company employee, graduate student at Shinshu University.
Hideyoshi Hashiba, 52, wealthy company owner.
Nobuaki Hanaoka, 56,
Sankei Shimbun editorial writer. He gave up after agreeing to support Hasegawa in exchange for Hasegawa's adopting some of his campaign policies, but appear on the electoral ballot.