2000 Japanese general election

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2000 Japanese general election
Flag of Japan.svg
  1996 25 June 2000 2003  

All 480 seats in the House of Representatives
241 seats needed for a majority
Turnout62.49% (Increase2.svg2.84pp; Const. votes)
62.45% (Increase2.svg2.82pp; PR votes)
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Yoshiro Mori cropped 1 Yoshiro Mori 20000405.jpg Yukio Hatoyama 20070824.jpg Takenori Kanzaki 20060926 (cropped).jpg
Leader Yoshirō Mori Yukio Hatoyama Takenori Kanzaki
Party LDP Democratic Komeito
Last election239 seatsDid not existDid not exist
Seats won23312731
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 6NewNew
Constituency vote24,945,80716,811,7321,231,753
% and swing40.97% (Increase2.svg2.34pp)27.61% (New)2.02% (New)
Regional vote16,943,42515,067,9907,762,032
% and swing28.31% (Decrease2.svg4.45pp)25.18% (New)12.97% (New)

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Ichiro Ozawa cropped 2 Yoshitaka Kimoto and Ichiro Ozawa 20010718 colorized (cropped).png The-Zenei-1967-January-Special-1.png Takako Doi in Tokyo congressist election 2.jpg
Leader Ichirō Ozawa Tetsuzo Fuwa Takako Doi
Party Liberal JCP Social Democratic
Last electionDid not exist26 seats15 seats
Seats won222019
Seat changeNewDecrease2.svg 6Increase2.svg 4
Constituency vote2,053,7367,352,8442,315,235
% and swing3.37% (New)12.08% (Decrease2.svg0.47pp)3.80% (Increase2.svg1.61pp)
Regional vote6,589,4906,719,0165,603,680
% and swing11.01% (New)11.23% (Decrease2.svg1.85pp)9.36% (Increase2.svg2.98pp)

2000 Japanese House of Representatives election.svg
Districts and PR districts, shaded according to winners' vote strength

Prime Minister before election

Yoshirō Mori
LDP

Elected Prime Minister

Yoshirō Mori
LDP

General elections were held in Japan on 25 June 2000 to elect the 480 members of the House of Representatives.

Contents

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) remained the largest party in the House of Representatives but lost seats, along with its two coalition partners. Two cabinet members, Takashi Fukaya and Tokuichiro Tamazawa, lost their seats. The Democratic Party made major gains under the leadership of Yukio Hatoyama. [1]

Background

Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi suffered a stroke in April 2000 and was replaced by Yoshiro Mori. Although the term limit for the House of Representatives would have been reached in October 2000, Mori dissolved the House on June 2 in what became popularly known as the Divine Nation Dissolution ( 神の国解散 ) due to a controversial statement by Mori prior to the election, which preceded a slump in government approval ratings from 40% to 20%. The LDP government advocated continued public works spending while the opposition advocated less spending and more governmental reforms. [2]

The Social Democratic Party left the coalition in 1998 and re-join the opposition after years of coalition with the ideologically contrasting LDP.

Meanwhile, the Komeito Party, a centrist party with roots from the Soka Gakkai based on the Nichiren Buddhist movement and despite almost decades of opposition against the LDP, shifted from centre towards conservatism. An electoral alliance between the once rivals of the Komeito and the LDP has been in effect since the Japanese General election in 2000. For the LDP, despite not being able to win an absolute majority of votes by itself in further elections (especially for the House of Councillors which the LDP lost majority since 1989), the Komeito party has been counted on since then to ensure a stable governing majority rule.

Results

Constituency cartogram 42nd Japanese General Election Cartogram.svg
Constituency cartogram

The House of Representatives consisted of 480 members, 300 elected from single-member constituencies and 180 elected on a proportional basis from eleven multi-member constituencies known as Block constituencies.

Japan House of Representatives 2000.svg
PartyProportionalConstituencyTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Liberal Democratic Party 16,943,42528.315624,945,80740.97177233−6
Democratic Party of Japan 15,067,99025.184716,811,73227.6180127New
New Komeito Party 7,762,03212.97241,231,7532.02731New
Japanese Communist Party 6,719,01611.23207,352,84412.08020−6
Liberal Party 6,589,49011.01182,053,7363.37422New
Social Democratic Party  5,603,6809.36152,315,2353.80419+4
Liberal League 660,7241.1001,071,0121.7611New
New Conservative Party 247,3340.4101,230,4642.0277New
Assembly of Independents 151,3450.250652,1381.0755New
Other parties99,5650.170250,6810.4100
Independents2,967,0694.871515+6
Total59,844,601100.0018060,882,471100.00300480−20
Valid votes59,844,60195.3760,882,47197.01
Invalid/blank votes2,904,9834.631,877,3182.99
Total votes62,749,584100.0062,759,789100.00
Registered voters/turnout100,492,32862.44100,433,79862.49
Source: Election Resources, IPU

By prefecture

PrefectureTotal
seats
Seats won
LDP DPJ NKP NCP AI SDP LP LL Ind.
Aichi 15591
Akita 33
Aomori 431
Chiba 1275
Ehime 44
Fukui 33
Fukuoka 11821
Fukushima 5311
Gifu 55
Gunma 55
Hiroshima 7511
Hokkaido 1376
Hyōgo 12332211
Ibaraki 7511
Ishikawa 33
Iwate 413
Kagawa 321
Kagoshima 541
Kanagawa 179611
Kōchi 33
Kumamoto 52111
Kyoto 651
Mie 5221
Miyagi 624
Miyazaki 33
Nagano 532
Nagasaki 4211
Nara 44
Niigata 6411
Ōita 4211
Okayama 55
Okinawa 3111
Osaka 1985411
Saga 33
Saitama 146611
Shiga 321
Shimane 33
Shizuoka 9441
Tochigi 541
Tokushima 321
Tokyo 2581313
Tottori 22
Toyama 33
Wakayama 3111
Yamagata 431
Yamaguchi 431
Yamanashi 321
Total3001778077544115

By PR block

PR blockTotal
seats
Seats won
LDP DPJ NKP JCP LP SDP
Chūgoku 11422111
Hokkaido 823111
Hokuriku–Shinetsu 11431111
Kinki (Kansai) 30775533
Kyushu 21743223
Northern Kanto 20753221
Shikoku 63111
Southern Kanto 21663222
Tohoku 14531131
Tōkai 21772221
Tokyo 17462221
Total180564724201815

Analysis

The further entrenchment of the 1955 System continued, with the Democratic Party of Japan replacing the New Frontier Party as the primary opposition to the LDP. The Social Democratic Party saw a brief resurgence following its near destruction in 1996, but the decline of the party would continue in the following election. The election set the groundwork for the system of politics that would lay how Japanese elections work until the collapse of the Democratic Party of Japan in the mid-2010s.

References

  1. French, Howard (26 June 2000). "GOVERNING PARTY IN JAPAN SUFFERS ELECTION SETBACK". New York Times. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  2. "JAPAN Parliamentary Chamber: Shugiin ELECTIONS HELD IN 2000". IPU.org. Retrieved 27 January 2014.