Local elections in Japan are running out of candidates and voters

ARMS ALOFT, Noriko Suematsu three times chants her victory cry: “Banzai!” She has just won a third consecutive term as mayor of the city of Suzuka in Mie, a prefecture in central Honshu, Japan’s main island. To pose for the cameras recording her triumph, she is given a lobster and a red sea-bream—auspicious celebratory props often used by politicians. This time is different from her two previous wins. “It was my first time winning the race uncontested,” she confesses. “It felt strange.”