花角英世

Hideyo Hanazumi is the Governor of Niigata Prefecture, currently serving his second term. A former career bureaucrat, he joined the Ministry of Transport in 1982 and held various senior positions within the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, including serving as Director-General of the Osaka Aviation Bureau and Deputy Commissioner of the Japan Coast Guard. He also served as Vice Governor of Niigata Prefecture from 2013 to 2015. Since his election as governor in 2018, Hanazumi has focused on regional fiscal reform, including implementing salary reductions for himself and senior staff to address the prefecture's financial challenges. In 2025, he formally expressed his support for the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, a decision that was subsequently supported by the prefectural assembly.