TOKYO -- When Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike decided to ask the government to declare a state of emergency in the capital, she did not take her plea directly to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Instead, Koike and the governors of three neighboring prefectures met with Yasutoshi Nishimura, the government's point man on the coronavirus response, at the Cabinet Office building on Jan. 2, even though Suga was just across the street at his official residence. He had just wrapped up his own meeting on COVID-19.
The simmering political rivalry between Suga and Koike has long complicated the relationship between the central government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Distrust has grown as the raging pandemic tests the leadership of the two veteran politicians, but the lack of coordination between the two could prove devastating to efforts to contain infections.
After three hours of discussion that day, Nishimura accepted a written request for an emergency decree from the four governors. He agreed to "consider the request as the national government."
That seemingly boilerplate response by Nishimura did not sit well with the prime minister's office, which was set to hold a New Year's news conference two days later. Suga was not keen on declaring a state of emergency, but in light of Nishimura's statement, Suga would have no choice but to agree to consider the request, his aides said.
Koike and Suga have met four times since the prime minister took office in September. But the last meeting was held on Dec. 1, more than a month ago.
While Koike believed that it was up to the central government to formulate a response, Suga was irate over what he saw as Koike's lack of action on containing the virus. He wanted Tokyo to cut business hours at restaurants and conveyed that request to Koike through Nishimura. But no agreement was reached.
"Koike is not doing what is needed to be done," Suga said in frustration. "If she had shortened operating hours at restaurants, [the disease] would not have spread to this extent."
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga feels Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike was too slow to ask bars and restaurants to curtail business hours. Tokyo's rising occupancy rate of hospital beds also became a sore point.
"She says medical facilities are being strained, but Tokyo's public hospitals aren't being utilized," Suga said.
Meanwhile, Koike focused on a second state-of-emergency order by the government as she recognized rising infections at the end of December.
"If we can't contain the epidemic, then we have no choice but to request an emergency declaration," Koike told an emergency news conference Dec. 30.
Still, Koike did not meet with Suga in person. Later that day, she called the prime minister to elaborate on what she had said at the news conference.
After the phone conversation, Suga told aides that Koike "wants to work hard so that there will be no emergency declaration." In the final week leading up to the order, the two were clearly not on the same page.
The discord between Suga and Koike dates back years before the coronavirus crisis. During Koike's successful race for Tokyo governor in 2016, Suga threw his weight behind her opponent Hiroya Masuda.
Koike prevailed by painting the ruling Liberal Democratic Party members of the Tokyo metropolitan assembly, including renowned power broker Shigeru Uchida, as a "black box."
Uchida has been close to Suga since the latter served as minister for internal affairs and communications. When Uchida was retiring in 2017, Suga -- by then the chief cabinet secretary -- criticized Koike as a "governor who can't make up her mind" when stumping for a LDP candidate vying for Uchida's seat.
When Koike came under fire over the relocation of the Tsukiji fish market to Toyosu, Suga stood at the forefront of the critics.
The standoff persisted during the coronavirus crisis. Suga, as the chief cabinet secretary, called the second wave in July a "Tokyo problem," blaming the capital's response.
Koike returned fire by likening the Suga-backed Go To Travel subsidy program to "turning on the A/C and the heat at the same time."
The pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities caused by the lack of trust between the national leader and Tokyo's chief. Legislation authorizing the coronavirus response grants most of the authority to governors, while the central government is limited to a comprehensive coordinating role. The vaguely defined legal authority has contributed to the tensions.
Toshihiro Nikai, the LDP secretary-general with connections to both Suga and Koike, invited the two to a dinner in November with the goal of mending fences, but the effort did not result in any tangible progress.
Suga has seen his approval ratings slump amid the current wave of infections, and Koike oversees the Japanese metropolis with the most patients nationwide. They will have no choice but to work together to host a successful Olympic Games this summer.
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