36-year-old woman Naomi Koshi youngest woman mayor in Japan

Voters in Japan have elected a 36-year-old woman Naomi Koshi, a graduate of Harvard law school as the country's youngest female mayor, in Otsu, the capital city of Shiga prefecture.

Shiga's governor is also female, making it the first place in Japan where a region's two top jobs are held by women.

Koshi, who was backed by the centre-left Democratic Party of Japan of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, beat 70-year-old Makoto Mekata. Koshi got 51,735 votes, while Mekata got 42,232, the final result showed.

"I want to work on expanding childcare and other services," the Mainichi Shimbun quoted Koshi as telling cheering supporters late Sunday.

The previous record holder was Kazumi Inamura, who won the race in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in 2010 at age 38.