BBC Online :
Voters in Tokyo are going to the polls to elect a new governor in a race widely seen as a popular verdict on the use of nuclear power.
A field of 16 men fought a two-week campaign to become chief executive of the city of 13 million people.
Observers say the heaviest snowfall in decades may affect voter turnout in Japan’s capital.
Opinion polls suggest former TV presenter and cabinet minister Yoichi Masuzoe, 65, has a strong lead.
This is despite his support for the government’s policy of restarting Japan’s nuclear reactors.
Public support for nuclear technology has fallen sharply since a tsunami caused a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in March 2011.
Mr Masuzoe has the backing of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative Liberal Democratic Party.
His closest rivals are former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, 76 – who has been backed by popular ex-PM Junichiro Koizumi – and lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya, 67, both of whom have campaigned on an anti-nuclear platform.
However, correspondents say much of the voting will be based on issues like the economy and social welfare programmes.
The voting is taking place as most of Japan including Tokyo is enveloped in the heaviest snow for 45 years.
The weather was to blame for at least five deaths and 600 injuries across the country by early Sunday, reports said.
A woman casts her ballot at a polling station during the Tokyo gubernatorial election in Tokyo (9 February 2014) Observers say the heaviest snowfall in decades may affect voter turnout in Tokyo
As much as 27cm (10.6in) of snow was recorded in Tokyo by late Saturday, according to the meteorological agency.
