This is positive Former TV presenter and cabinet minister Yoichi Masuzoe has won the election for Tokyo governor by a wide margin, exit polls suggest.
The vote is being seen as a popular verdict on the use of nuclear power.
Mr Masuzoe agrees with government plans to restart Japan's nuclear reactors, while his two closest rivals campaigned on an anti-nuclear platform.
A field of 16 men fought a two-week campaign to become chief executive of the city of 13 million people.
Turnout in Tokyo was low as the capital, like much of Japan, is enveloped in its heaviest snowfall in decades.
The weather was to blame for at least five deaths and 600 injuries across the country by early Sunday, reports said.
Mariko Oi takes a look at the most popular contenders
Relief for Abe
Mr Masuzoe has the backing of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative Liberal Democratic Party.
His closest rivals were former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, 76 - who has been backed by popular ex-PM Junichiro Koizumi - and lawyer Kenji Utsunomiya, 67.
The presumed victory for Mr Masuzoe will come as a relief for Mr Abe, who suffered a rare setback in another local election last month.