1972 Japanese general election

Last updated
1972 Japanese general election
Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg
  1969 10 December 1972 1976  

All 491 seats in the House of Representatives
246 seats needed for a majority
Turnout71.76% (Increase2.svg3.25pp)
 First partySecond partyThird party
 
Kakuei Tanaka 19720707.jpg
Tomomi-Narita-1.png
Kenji Miyamoto (cropped).jpg
Leader Kakuei Tanaka Tomomi Narita Kenji Miyamoto
Party LDP Socialist JCP
Last election47.63%, 288 seats21.44%, 90 seats6.81%, 14 seats
Seats won27111838
Seat changeDecrease2.svg17Increase2.svg28Increase2.svg24
Popular vote24,563,19911,478,7425,496,827
Percentage46.85%21.90%10.49%
SwingDecrease2.svg0.78ppIncrease2.svg0.46ppIncrease2.svg3.68pp

 Fourth partyFifth party
 
Yoshikatsu-Takeiri-3.png
Kasuga-Ikko-1.jpg
Leader Yoshikatsu Takeiri Kasuga Ikkō
Party Kōmeitō Democratic Socialist
Last election10.91%, 47 seats7.74%, 31 seats
Seats won2919
Seat changeDecrease2.svg18Decrease2.svg12
Popular vote4,436,7553,660,953
Percentage8.46%6.98%
SwingDecrease2.svg2.45ppDecrease2.svg0.76pp

1972 JAPAN GENERAL ELECTION, combined vote share.svg
Districts shaded according to winners' vote strength

Prime Minister before election

Kakuei Tanaka
LDP

Elected Prime Minister

Kakuei Tanaka
LDP

General elections were held in Japan on 10 December 1972. The result was a victory for the Liberal Democratic Party, which won 271 of the 491 seats. [1] Voter turnout was 71.76%.

Contents

Little changed in the aftermath of the election; the LDP saw a slight decrease in seat numbers (debatably due to it fielding more candidates than ever before as a result of regained confidence in 1969), [2] and its vote share remained below 50% (even with the addition of conservative-aligned independents). The Japan Socialist Party won over 100 seats following its disastrous results in the 1969 Japanese general election, although infighting continued within the party over choosing cooperation with Kōmeitō or the Japanese Communist Party, coined "Civil Service or Joint Struggle". Fears remained that it would be overtaken by the resurgence of the JCP.

The Japanese Communist Party was arguably the biggest winner of the election. Its seat count nearly tripled in relation to the 1969 election, and in the span of two elections, it had gone from 5 to 38 seats. This meant it beat its post-war peak of 35 representatives in 1949. The other two opposition parties, the DSP and Kōmeitō, suffered losses despite cooperation with each other. Kōmeitō was going through a series of scandals around its censorship of press critical to it (aptly named the Press Publication Obstruction cases  [ ja ]) which severely damaged its public image, and gave favor to the JCP, with image of the Soka Gakkai as a cult beginning to emerge. The DSP also lost 12 seats.

Results

Japan House of Representatives 1972.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Liberal Democratic Party 24,563,19946.85271–17
Japan Socialist Party 11,478,74221.90118+28
Japanese Communist Party 5,496,82710.4938+24
Kōmeitō 4,436,7558.4629–18
Democratic Socialist Party 3,660,9536.9819–12
Other parties143,0190.272+2
Independents2,645,5825.0514–2
Total52,425,077100.00491+5
Valid votes52,425,07799.04
Invalid/blank votes510,2340.96
Total votes52,935,311100.00
Registered voters/turnout73,769,63671.76
Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan

By prefecture

PrefectureTotal
seats
Seats won
LDP JSP JCP Kōmeitō DSP OthersInd.
Aichi 2096131
Akita 8521
Aomori 7511
Chiba 139211
Ehime 9621
Fukui 431
Fukuoka 19543232
Fukushima 12102
Gifu 972
Gunma 1073
Hiroshima 12831
Hokkaido 2211911
Hyōgo 1994231
Ibaraki 1293
Ishikawa 651
Iwate 853
Kagawa 642
Kagoshima 11623
Kanagawa 1453321
Kōchi 5311
Kumamoto 106211
Kyoto 103232
Mie 9621
Miyagi 9621
Miyazaki 6321
Nagano 137411
Nagasaki 95211
Nara 5311
Niigata 15105
Ōita 752
Okayama 10631
Okinawa 5212
Osaka 237466
Saga 541
Saitama 138311
Shiga 541
Shimane 541
Shizuoka 1483111
Tochigi 10631
Tokushima 5311
Tokyo 3913710612
Tottori 4211
Toyama 6222
Wakayama 63111
Yamagata 853
Yamaguchi 9621
Yamanashi 532
Total491271118382919214

References

  1. "統計局ホームページ/第27章 公務員・選挙". Archived from the original on 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
  2. 中野士朗『田中政権 八八六日』(行政問題研究所1982年、255頁-)