The metropolitan government administers the special wards, cities, towns and villages that constitute part of the Tokyo Metropolis.

With a population closing in on 14 million living within its boundaries, and many more commuting from neighbouring prefectures, the metropolitan government wields significant political power within Japan.

These other municipalities are located in the western part of the prefecture, as well as the outlying island chains of Izu and Ogasawara.

Regular sessions are held four times each year, in February, June, September and December.

[2] As in other prefectures of Japan, the people of Tokyo directly elect the governor to four-year terms of office.

As the chief executive of Tokyo, ruling an area encompassing 13 million inhabitants and a GDP comparable in size to some countries, they hold the greatest influence among Japan's governors.

From the Japanese Wikipedia Tokyo's population consists largely of swing voters who are not loyal to any one political party.

Tokyoites tend to vote for independent candidates with name recognition or in response to hot-button issues, and have been less susceptible to pork-barrel spending and other "machine" style politics than voters elsewhere in Japan.

Yuriko Koike, former LDP defense minister but running as an independent, was elected with 44,49% of the popular vote.