1986 Japanese general election

1986 Japanese general election

←  1983 6 July 1986 1990  →
All 512 seats in the House of Representatives 257 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	71.40% (3.46pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Yasuhiro Nakasone Masashi Ishibashi Yoshikatsu Takeiri Party LDP Socialist Kōmeitō Last election 45.76%, 250 seats 19.49%, 112 seats 10.12%, 58 seats Seats won 300 85 56 Seat change 50 27 3 Popular vote 29,875,501 10,412,584 5,701,277 Percentage 49.42% 17.23% 9.43% Swing 3.66pp 2.26pp 0.69pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   DSP Leader Tetsuzo Fuwa Tsukamoto Saburō Yōhei Kōno Party JCP Democratic Socialist New Liberal Club Last election 9.34%, 26 seats 7.27%, 38 seats 2.36%, 8 seats Seats won 26 26 6 Seat change 12 2 Popular vote 5,313,246 3,895,858 1,114,800 Percentage 8.79% 6.44% 1.64% Swing 0.55pp 0.83pp 0.72pp
Elected MPs and the leading party by vote share in each multimember district Districts where the LDP (green) or opposition (blue) won most seats; teal for ties
Prime Minister before election Yasuhiro Nakasone LDP Elected Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone LDP

General elections were held in Japan on 6 July 1986 to elect the 512 members of the House of Representatives, alongside elections for the House of Councillors. The result was a landslide victory for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which gained 50 seats and an outright majority in the House. ^{[1] [2]} The LDP's 300 seats remains its joint-best general election result.

Most opposition parties lost seat, the exceptions being the Japanese Communist Party (which remained at 26 seats) and the Socialist Democratic Federation, which gained one seat. The biggest losses were experienced by the Japan Socialist Party, which lost 27 seats. The Democratic Socialist Party saw a 12-seat loss, while Kōmeitō saw a loss of three seats and the New Liberal Club, which had been in coalition with the LDP, lost two seats.

Prior to election day, polls indicated that the LDP would win a victory, ^[3] but the size of the victory was considered unexpected. ^[1] The New York Times wrote that "the fragmented opposition could not catch fire with any campaign issue." ^[3] Economic policy was not sharply contested in the campaign; however, the Japanese economy had seen its first quarter of contraction in 11 years. ^[4]

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Liberal Democratic Party	29,875,501	49.42	300	+50
	Japan Socialist Party	10,412,584	17.23	85	−27
	Japanese Communist Party	5,313,246	8.79	26	0
	Kōmeitō	5,701,277	9.43	56	−2
	Democratic Socialist Party	3,895,858	6.44	26	−12
	New Liberal Club	1,114,800	1.84	6	−2
	Socialist Democratic Federation	499,670	0.83	4	+1
	Other parties	120,627	0.20	0	–
	Independents	3,515,043	5.81	9	−7
Total		60,448,606	100.00	512	+1
Valid votes		60,448,606	97.96
Invalid/blank votes		1,259,044	2.04
Total votes		61,707,650	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		86,426,845	71.40
Source: IPU

Seats won per district
LDP JSP Kōmeitō JCP DSP (orange) & SDF (crimson) NLC Independent

By prefecture

Prefecture	Total seats	Seats won
		LDP	JSP	Kōmeitō	JCP	DSP	NLC	SDF	Ind.
Aichi	22	11	2	2	1	4			2
Akita	7	5	2
Aomori	7	7
Chiba	18	12	2	3	1
Ehime	9	7	1	1
Fukui	4	3							1
Fukuoka	19	9	4	4		1		1
Fukushima	12	8	3			1
Gifu	9	6	1	1					1
Gunma	10	8	2
Hiroshima	12	9	1	1		1
Hokkaido	23	13	7	1	1				1
Hyōgo	19	10	4	3	1	1
Ibaraki	12	8	2	1		1
Ishikawa	5	4	1
Iwate	8	6	2
Kagawa	6	5	1
Kagoshima	10	7	3
Kanagawa	20	5	4	4	1	2	4
Kōchi	5	2	1	1	1
Kumamoto	10	6	1	1					2
Kyoto	10	4		2	2	2
Mie	9	6	2	1
Miyagi	9	7	1	1
Miyazaki	6	5				1
Nagano	13	9	3			1
Nagasaki	9	6	2			1
Nara	5	2		1	1	1
Niigata	13	10	2						1
Ōita	7	4	2			1
Okayama	10	5	1	2		1		1
Okinawa	5	2	1	1	1
Osaka	27	7	4	7	6	3
Saga	5	3	1						1
Saitama	17	9	2	3	1	1	1
Shiga	5	3	1			1
Shimane	5	3	2
Shizuoka	14	10	2	1		1
Tochigi	10	5	3	1		1
Tokushima	5	3	1	1
Tokyo	44	19	5	10	8		1	1
Tottori	4	3	1
Toyama	6	4	2
Wakayama	6	4		1	1
Yamagata	7	6						1
Yamaguchi	9	6	2	1
Yamanashi	5	4	1
Total	512	300	85	56	26	26	6	4	9

References

1. Inoguchi, Takashi (1987). "The Japanese double election of 6 July 1986" . Electoral Studies. 6 (1): 63–69. doi:10.1016/0261-3794(87)90053-9. ISSN   0261-3794.
2. Haberman, Clyde (1986-07-13). "MODERN JAPAN, LAND OF SUPERSTITION". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331.
3. Haberman, Clyde (1986-07-06). "NAKASONE'S FATE RESTS ON VOTE TODAY". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331.
4. "Nakasone Party Wins Landslide". The Washington Post. 1986.