In the second phase on April 24, 2011, mayors and assemblies in hundreds of cities, "special wards" of Tokyo, towns, and villages were up for election.
The nationally ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), under the leadership of Naoto Kan, began in a weak position in prefectures and municipalities.
It also faced calls for an early general election from the opposition led by the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP).
After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in March, elections in the most affected prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Mito, and Ibaraki were temporarily postponed.
Elections with national media coverage included the mayoral races in the prefectural capitals Tsu, Nagasaki, Ōita and Takamatsu, in several cities of Tokyo, in the bankrupt city of Yubari, Hokkaidō and in Suita, Ōsaka where Tetsuya Inoue recorded another victory for the Osaka Restoration Association.