1956 Japanese House of Councillors election

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1956 Japanese House of Councillors election
Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg
  1953 8 July 1956 1959  

127 of the 250 seats in the House of Councillors
126 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
  Hatoyama Ichiro (cropped).jpg Suzuki Mosaburo.JPG
Leader Ichirō Hatoyama Mosaburō Suzuki
Party LDP Socialist
Seats after12280
Seat changeIncrease2.svg12Increase2.svg14
Popular vote11,356,8748,549,940
Percentage36.7%29.9%
SwingN/AN/A

 Third partyFourth party
  Sanzo Nosaka photographed by Shigeru Tamura.jpg
Leader Sanzō Nosaka
Party Ryokufūkai JCP
Seats after312
Seat changeDecrease2.svg3Increase2.svg2
Popular vote2,877,102599,254
Percentage10.1%2.1%
SwingDecrease2.svg2.1ppIncrease2.svg1.0pp

President of the House of Councillors before election

Yūzō Shigemune
LDP

President of the House of Councillors-designate

Yutaka Terao
LDP

House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on 8 July 1956, [1] electing half the seats in the House plus two vacant seats in the other half. The Liberal Democratic Party won the most seats, but failed to win a majority. It was the first national election under the 1955 System, approximately a two party system of Ichirō Hatoyama's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) that was created in the "conservative merger" of 1955 and Suzuki Mosaburō's reunified Japan Socialist Party (JSP). The later dominant LDP failed to win a majority.

Contents

A key campaign issue was Prime Minister Ichirō Hatoyama's plan to revise Article 9 of the constitution – any change of the constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the Diet. The left parties aimed to win at least a third of seats to prevent any constitutional change. Another issue was the government's plan to replace the elected prefectural boards of education with appointed ones, a plan fiercely opposed by the left: In June 1956, on the LDP's request the police intervened in the "deliberations" in the Diet when Socialist Councillors resorted to violence.

Results

Two by-elections for the class of Councillors elected in 1953 were held simultaneously: The candidates with the 51st and 52nd highest vote shares in the national vote (one Socialist and one Liberal Democrat) were elected for three-year terms. Takenaka Tsuneo, who was elected as a member of the Japan Dentists' Federation, later joined the LDP.

Japan House of Councillors 1956.svg
PartyNationalConstituencySeats
Votes%SeatsVotes%SeatsNot upWonTotal
after
+/–
Liberal Democratic Party 11,356,87439.691914,353,96048.35426161122New
Japan Socialist Party 8,549,94029.882111,156,06037.5828314980New
Ryokufūkai 2,877,10210.055653,8432.20026531–3
Japanese Communist Party 599,2542.0911,149,0093.871022+1
Labourers and Farmers Party 181,5240.630120,4140.410000–2
Other parties607,8322.121115,8620.3900110
Independents4,443,88615.5352,136,4987.2045914–22
Total28,616,412100.005229,685,646100.00751231272500
Valid votes28,616,41291.8329,685,64695.25
Invalid/blank votes2,545,7978.171,479,5214.75
Total votes31,162,209100.0031,165,167100.00
Registered voters/turnout50,177,88862.1050,177,88862.11
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, [1] [2] National Diet

By constituency

PrefectureTotal
seats
Seats won
LDP JSP Ryokufūkai JCP OthersInd.
Aichi 321
Akita 11
Aomori 11
Chiba 211
Ehime 11
Fukui 11
Fukuoka 312
Fukushima 211
Gifu 11
Gunma 211
Hiroshima 211
Hokkaido 422
Hyōgo 321
Ibaraki 211
Ishikawa 11
Iwate 11
Kagawa 11
Kagoshima 211
Kanagawa 22
Kōchi 11
Kumamoto 211
Kyoto 211
Mie 11
Miyagi 11
Miyazaki 11
Nagano 211
Nagasaki 11
Nara 11
Niigata 211
Ōita 11
Okayama 211
Osaka 3111
Saga 11
Saitama 22
Shiga 11
Shimane 11
Shizuoka 211
Tochigi 211
Tokushima 11
Tokyo 4121
Tottori 11
Toyama 11
Wakayama 11
Yamagata 11
Yamaguchi 11
Yamanashi 11
National5219215115
Total12761495219

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Table 13: Persons Elected and Votes Polled by Political Parties - Ordinary Elections for the House of Councillors (1947–2004) Archived 2011-03-23 at the Wayback Machine Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
  2. "27-11 Allotted Number, Candidates, Eligible Voters as of Election Day, Voters and Voting Percentages of Ordinary Elections for the House of Councillors (1947-2004)". Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Archived from the original on 2012-02-20.