Okino Nobuyuki

Okino Nobuyuki (沖野 伸行, born 6 November, 1963) is a Hinoan politician and former competitive figure skater. He is the current mayor of Mikawa City, the capital of the Kansai Region in Hinomoto.

Okino was the 1986 and 1987 gold medallist in the Chiseian Grand Prix. After retirement from competitive skating, he was employed by YaHoKyo as a skating consultant. He also coached Kurata Masaru and Takamura Jun until 2006, when he joined the Democratic Power Party and entered politics.

Early life
Okino was born on 6 November, 1963 in Kotoyama, Shinō, Hinomoto. His father was a postal worker who was injured in the political violence following the handover of Hinomoto from Chisei to Yamatai in 1975. Okino began preparing for a professional skating career at the age of 16 at the urging of his high school skating coach, who saw his natural talent.

Competitive skating
In 1981, Okino attained the gold medal at the Hinomoto Skating Championship and later attained the bronze medal at the Yamatai National Skating Championship. He later participated in the 1982 Chiseian Grand Prix, attaining the bronze medal. Okino would later go on to attain two more gold medals in Chisei in 1986 and 1987. His achievement was widely celebrated in Hinomoto, with many Hinoans seeing him as a symbol of regional pride and increasing overseas recognition of Hinomoto as a distinct region, rather than a part of Yamatai.

Okino announced his retirement from competitive skating in 1990 after that year's Yamatai National Skating Championship. He was hired as a skating consultant by YaHoKyo, which made a television drama loosely based on his life in 1995. He also began coaching other competitive skaters, including Yamataians Kurata Masaru and Takamura Jun, who would respectively attain silver and bronze medals at the Kanayachi All-Yashima Grand Prix.

Political career
In 2006, Okino joined the Democratic Power Party. In the 2007 general elections, Okino ran for the Hinomoto Gikai representing Mikawa's 2nd district, but was not elected. In 2011, he ran for mayor of Mikawa, and won with 65% of the vote. Since then, he has been the mayor of Mikawa City.

As mayor, Okino expanded feeder bus services to reduce downtown traffic congestion in the city, and established laws restricting bicycles to roadside lanes to reduce traffic incidents.

He was reelected as Mayor in 2015 and 2019.