Among the effects of Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe’s resignation is the triggering of another costly gubernatorial election. If past examples are any indication, the race to choose a successor will cost Tokyo taxpayers a whopping ¥5 billion.

When Naoki Inose, Masuzoe’s immediate predecessor, quit in December 2013 over a scandal involving ¥50 million received as loans from the Tokushukai hospital chain, Tokyo was forced to squeeze out ¥4.9 billion in emergency funds for an election. Of that, about ¥4.6 billion was actually spent, an official from Tokyo’s election management committee said.

Masuzoe’s resignation is certain to result in similar costs, the official added.

“I’m sure Tokyo residents are angry that it’s a total waste of their taxes. I mean, the cost involved is stupendous,” said the official, who declined to be named.

The individual said residents have already made their feelings known. As the scandal played out, the election management office began fielding a deluge of calls from people lambasting Masuzoe’s spending and inquiring how much of their tax money will be “wasted” on a new poll.

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Most of the funds are used to pay municipalities to hire staff for polling stations and install machines to count ballots.

The gubernatorial race that put Masuzoe in power saw about ¥4.1 billion being spent for these purposes, the official said.

The remaining costs include the printing of flyers, running ads in newspapers and buying fuel for campaign trucks.

An election gets even costlier if a governor, whose official tenure is four years, quits prematurely — something that has happened with each of the last three people to hold the position.

Masuzoe submitted his resignation after a little over two years in office. Inose survived for only a year. Bombastic politician Shintaro Ishihara, Inose’s predecessor, quit prematurely in his fourth term, too, to form a new national political party in the fall of 2012.

The Tokyo official said one budgetary need in the short-term will be paying extra fees for printing companies to produce flyers and promotional signs.