1990 Japanese general election

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1990 Japanese general election
Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg
  1986 18 February 1990 1993  

All 512 seats in the House of Representatives
257 seats needed for a majority
Turnout73.31% (Increase2.svg 1.89pp)
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Toshiki Kaifu 19890810 (cropped).jpg Takako Doi in Tokyo congressist election 2.jpg Koshiro Ishida Hosokawa Cabinet 19930809 kaidan2.jpg
Leader Toshiki Kaifu Takako Doi Koshiro Ishida
Party LDP Socialist Kōmeitō
Last election51.06%, 306 seats [a] 17.23%, 85 seats9.43%, 56 seats
Seats won27513645
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 31Increase2.svg 51Decrease2.svg 11
Popular vote30,315,41716,025,4735,242,675
Percentage46.14%24.35%7.98%
SwingDecrease2.svg 3.28ppIncrease2.svg 7.12ppDecrease2.svg 1.45pp

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  The-Zenei-1967-January-Special-1.png Eiichi Nagasue 197102.jpg Satsuki Eda 1993 (cropped).jpg
Leader Tetsuzo Fuwa Eiichi Nagasue  [ ja ] Satsuki Eda
Party JCP Democratic Socialist Socialist Democratic
Last election8.79%, 26 seats6.44%, 26 seats0.83%, 4 seats
Seats won16144
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 10Decrease2.svg 12Steady2.svg
Popular vote5,226,9873,178,949566,957
Percentage7.96%4.84%0.86%
SwingDecrease2.svg 0.83ppDecrease2.svg 1.60ppIncrease2.svg 0.03pp

 Seventh party
 
Leader Seiichi Tagawa
Party Progressive  [ ja ]
Last election
Seats won1
Seat changeNew
Popular vote281,793
Percentage0.43%
SwingNew

1990 Japanese House of Representatives election.svg
1990 Japanese House of Representatives election, government vs opposition.svg

Prime Minister before election

Toshiki Kaifu
LDP

Elected Prime Minister

Toshiki Kaifu
LDP

General elections were held in Japan on 18 February 1990 to elect the 512 members of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet. [1]

Contents

Background

As with the previous House of Councillors election, the "four-point set of evils" in the minds of voters were the controversial consumption tax, the Recruit scandal, agricultural import liberalisation, and former Prime Minister Sōsuke Uno's sex scandal. Political commentators excitedly speculated whether a "Great Reversal" would finally come about in which the LDP loses its majority in the House of Representatives, as the prior 1989 election saw the LDP lose its long-held majority in the House of Councillors. [2]

Results

Japan House of Representatives 1990.svg
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Liberal Democratic Party 30,315,41746.14275−31
Japan Socialist Party 16,025,47324.39136+51
Kōmeitō 5,242,6757.9845−11
Japanese Communist Party 5,226,9877.9616−10
Democratic Socialist Party 3,178,9494.8414−12
Socialist Democratic Federation 566,9570.8640
Progressive Party  [ ja ]281,7930.431New
Other parties58,5360.090
Independents4,807,5247.3221+12
Total65,704,311100.005120
Valid votes65,704,31199.23
Invalid/blank votes511,5950.77
Total votes66,215,906100.00
Registered voters/turnout90,322,90873.31
Source: IPU
Seats won per district
1990 Japanese House of Representatives election, LDP seats per district.svg
1990 Japanese House of Representatives election, JSP seats per district.svg
1990 Japanese House of Representatives election, Komeito seats per district.svg
1990 Japanese House of Representatives election, JCP seats per district.svg
1990 Japanese House of Representatives election, DSP & SDF seats per district.svg
1990 Japanese House of Representatives election, independent MPs seats per district.svg

By prefecture

PrefectureTotal
seats
Seats won
LDP JSP Kōmeitō JCP DSP SDF PPInd.
Aichi 22116221
Akita 7421
Aomori 752
Chiba 181251
Ehime 963
Fukui 431
Fukuoka 1984421
Fukushima 12651
Gifu 9621
Gunma 10631
Hiroshima 12831
Hokkaido 231271111
Hyōgo 1910423
Ibaraki 12831
Ishikawa 541
Iwate 8431
Kagawa 642
Kagoshima 10541
Kanagawa 209641
Kōchi 52111
Kumamoto 106211
Kyoto 1042211
Mie 95211
Miyagi 963
Miyazaki 6321
Nagano 13841
Nagasaki 95211
Nara 52111
Niigata 13841
Ōita 7421
Okayama 1042211
Okinawa 52111
Osaka 27857511
Saga 5311
Saitama 1785211
Shiga 5311
Shimane 5311
Shizuoka 141031
Tochigi 10631
Tokushima 5221
Tokyo 44181183112
Tottori 422
Toyama 642
Wakayama 6411
Yamagata 7511
Yamaguchi 9621
Yamanashi 532
Total5122751364516144121

Analysis

Although the LDP lost a net total of 25 seats, it still held onto its majority in the House of Representatives with a margin of 19 seats. This was due to the inequitable districting practices in Japan at the time, as individual voters in rural districts tend to both favour the LDP and also be disproportionately influential. However, the LDP did see losses among rural voters in the 1989 elections, and as a result the party pivoted away from their commitment to liberal import policies and back into a more protectionist rhetoric, declaring that "not one grain of foreign rice will be imported into Japan." The LDP also acquiesced by revising the consumption tax law to allow for exceptions; moreover, public resistance to the new tax had slightly decreased since the 1989 Upper House election. Although party leadership tends to have only minor influence on Japanese elections, positive cabinet approval ratings for the LDP bounced back from Noboru Takeshita's low of 10% to the reform-minded Toshiki Kaifu's 33%. In addition, the LDP also made sure to field an ample amount of candidates and to informally support independents, who increased by 12 in this election. [2]

The clear winner in the elections was the Japan Socialist Party, whose number of seats rose by 51 and whose popular vote rose by 7.12% from the last election. This was the JSP's strongest performance in a general election since 1967, and left it as the only party to gain any seats. Meanwhile, the other three main opposition parties (Komeito, the JCP, and the DSP) lost 11, 10, and 12 seats respectively, and all of them also saw reductions in their popular vote. According to surveys, however, the shift in support for the JSP was more to do with the familiar Japanese tendency to cast protest votes against the LDP rather than expressions of support for all of the opposition's platform. Moreover, the JSP continued to suffer from factional infighting and a relative lack of fund-raising when compared to the LDP, and thus its fortunes would only wind up being in the short-term. [2]

Notes

References

  1. Elections held in 1990 Inter-Parliamentary Union
  2. 1 2 3 Donnelly, Michael W. (1990). "No Great Reversal in Japan: Elections for the House of Representatives in 1990" . Pacific Affairs. 63 (3): 303–320. doi:10.2307/2759521. JSTOR   2759521.