[1] Utsunomiya served as the honorary mayor of a tent village of laid-off temp workers in Tokyo's Hibiya Park who were let go due to the global financial crisis.

He announced his candidacy on November 9, 2012, after long-term Governor Shintaro Ishihara suddenly resigned to return to national politics ahead of the then-looming next general election.

He was alone among the candidates who said that they would reconsider Tokyo's bid for the 2020 Olympics,[6] and criticized Ishihara's rash decisions such as his attempt to purchase the Senkaku Islands, which caused much friction between China and Japan.

[7] In addition, he said that he wanted to pressure the central government to abolish nuclear power, and also to do more to provide assistance for victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

He called for providing a check against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, closing all nuclear plants, restricting spending on the 2020 Summer Olympics and making Tokyo "a secure city where people can live and work.

[15] After the emergence of Morihiro Hosokawa's candidacy, former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who had backed Utsunomiya in his previous bid for governor in 2012, called on him to leave the race out of fears that he would split the anti-nuclear vote in Tokyo.

After some speculation, Utsunomiya officially announced his candidacy for the 2016 Tokyo gubernatorial election on July 11, 2016, [17] but withdrew shortly afterwards to avoid taking votes from the main opposition candidate Shuntaro Torigoe.