The U.S.-Japan Alliance and
A fixture on Japan's political scene, long-time Governor of Tokyo (1999-present) Shintaro Ishihara is far and away one of Japan's leading political figures... [Link]
the Debate Over Japan's Role in Asia
The Honorable Shintaro Ishihara
Governor of Tokyo
...we can state with some degree of certainty that:
1) Ishihara Shintaro is more interested in drumming up interest for his new, "true conservative" party than running the world's richest city
2) The person keeping the lights on, the sewers flowing and the roads passable is Inose Naoki and not the Tokyo Metropolitan District's elected leader.
The latter of those two points is a damn good thing.
[Hyperbolic hyperbole alert: "...is far and away one of Japan's leading political figures"
"Far and away"?
What is wrong with "is one of Japan's leading political figures"?]