2007 Japanese House of Councillors election

Last updated
2007 Japanese House of Councillors election
Flag of Japan.svg
  2004 July 29, 2007 2010  

121 of the 242 seats in the House of Councillors
122 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Ichiro Ozawa cropped 3 Yoshitaka Kimoto and Ichiro Ozawa 20010718.jpg Shinzo Abe 20060926 (cropped).jpg Akihiro Ota 20121227.jpg
Leader Ichirō Ozawa Shinzō Abe Akihiro Ota
Party Democratic Liberal Democratic Komeito
Last election82 seats, 37.8%115 seats, 30.0%24 seats, 15.4%
Seats after1098320
Seat changeIncrease2.svg27Decrease2.svg32Decrease2.svg4
Popular vote23,256,24716,544,6717,765,329
Percentage39.5%28.1%13.2%
SwingIncrease2.svg1.7ppDecrease2.svg1.9ppDecrease2.svg3.2pp

 Fourth partyFifth partySixth party
  Kazuo Shii cropped.jpg Mizuho Fukushima cropped.jpg Tamisuke Watanuki 2009.jpg
Leader Kazuo Shii Mizuho Fukushima Tamisuke Watanuki
Party Communist Social Democratic People's New
Last election9 seats, 7.8%5 seats, 5.4%
Seats after754
Seat changeDecrease2.svg2Steady2.svgNew
Popular vote4,407,9322,634,7131,269,209
Percentage7.5%4.5%2.2%
SwingDecrease2.svg0.3ppDecrease2.svg0.9ppNew

 Seventh party
  Yasuo tanaka 20140903 (cropped).jpg
Leader Yasuo Tanaka
Party NP-Nippon
Last election
Seats after1
Seat changeNew
Popular vote1,770,707
Percentage3.0%
SwingNew

2007 Japanese House of Councillors election.svg
Constituency and proportional representation (bottom right) election result

President of the House of Councillors before election

Chikage Oogi
Liberal Democratic

Elected President of the House of Councillors

Satsuki Eda
Democratic

House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on July 29, 2007. [1] [2] The date was originally to be July 22, but the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) decided in mid-June to extend the session of the House for a week to finish up legislative business; this step was criticised due to the short-term delay. [3]

Contents

The House of Councillors consists of 242 members who serve six-year terms. Approximately half the members are elected every three years. The previous elections took place in 2004 when Junichiro Koizumi, Abe's predecessor, was in office.

The house ended its 166th session on July 5, 2007, marking the unofficial beginning of campaign. The official campaign began on July 12. [4]

The ruling coalition of Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito lost control, creating the first divided Diet (opposition control of the House of Councillors) since 1999. The LDP became the second party for the first time, while the DPJ became first party for the first time.

Background

The DPJ had 79 seats (82 including shin-ryokufukai) after the 2004 Upper House elections, winning 50 out of the 121 up for election, gaining 12, compared to the LDP's 49. As of February 17, 2007, the DPJ held 82 seats to the LDP's 111.

Ichirō Ozawa, the leader of the DPJ, addressed a workers' May Day rally in Yoyogi Park on April 28, 2007, setting out the party's agenda for the election. He pledged that the key policy areas would be an end to 'self-righteous' government, pension and medical reforms, and that the DPJ would 'stand in the shoes of workers, residents, and taxpayers'.

Reports throughout 2007 showed Shinzō Abe's approval ratings falling, [5] and public support for the DPJ's position on the recent pension scandal. [6] Several other scandals right up until the start of official campaigning did not improve the outlook for the LDP. [1]

Political issues

Results

According to results by NHK, the LDP lost its majority in the Upper House. Meanwhile, the DPJ managed to gain the largest margin since its formation in 1996. [7] LDP's coalition partner New Komeito lost 3 of its twelve seats. [7] [8] Although the opposition made it clear that they intended to officially ask for Abe's resignation, he vowed to "continue pitching" for leadership. [9]

Most of the candidates who received international coverage were defeated in the elections - including Alberto Fujimori, Kaori Tahara, Kanako Otsuji, Yoshiro Nakamatsu, and Yuko Tojo. [10] Notable candidates who were elected included iconoclastic former Nagano governor Yasuo Tanaka, who achieved one seat for his own New Party Nippon, and ethnic Finn Marutei Tsurunen, who was re-elected with the sixth-highest vote count on the DPJ party list.

The election resulted in the removal of numerous LDP councillors representing doctors, dentists, the construction industry and other special interest groups. Historically, such individuals had been elected solely by the votes of members of their own industries. [11]

Japan House of Councillors 2007.svg
PartyNationalConstituencySeats
Votes%SeatsVotes%SeatsNot upWonTotal
after
+/–
Democratic Party of Japan 23,256,24739.482024,006,81840.45404960109+27
Liberal Democratic Party 16,544,76128.081418,606,19331.3523463783–32
New Komeito Party 7,765,32913.1873,534,6725.96211920–4
Japanese Communist Party 4,407,9337.4835,164,5728.700437–2
Social Democratic Party 2,634,7144.4721,352,0182.2803250
New Party Nippon 1,770,7073.011011New
People's New Party 1,269,2092.1511,111,0051.871224New
Women's Party673,5601.1400000
Article 9 Net273,7450.460185,7730.310000New
Ishin Seito Shimpu 170,5100.290129,2220.2200000
Kyōsei Shintō146,9850.250128,6220.220000New
Other parties33,5650.060101
Independents5,095,1688.5976712+5
Total58,913,700100.004859,347,628100.00731211212420
Valid votes58,914,13496.8959,347,62997.59
Invalid/blank votes1,889,1013.111,464,7002.41
Total votes60,803,235100.0060,812,329100.00
Registered voters/turnout103,710,03558.63103,710,03558.64
Source: MIC, National Diet

By prefecture

Elected candidates in bold

Notes:

Source: [12]

Northern Japan
PrefectureSeats upIncumbentsPartyResultCandidates
(Party – endorsements)
Vote share
Hokkaidō 2 Chūichi Date LDP Incumbents re-elected
DPJ gains top tōsen
Katsuya Ogawa (DPJ) 36.0%
Chūichi Date (LDP – Kōmeitō) 26.8%
Kaori Tahara (I – DPJ, PNP, NPD) 22.0%
Kazuya Hatayama (JCP) 7.3%
Hideyoshi Hashiba (I) 3.7%
Takao Asano (SDP) 2.8%
Masayuki Arakawa (I) 0.8%
Nobuhito Sendai (Ishin Seito Shimpū) 0.6%
Katsuya Ogawa DPJ
Aomori 1 Tsutomu Yamazaki LDP Incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
Kōji Hirayama (DPJ – PNP) 49.0%
Tsutomu Yamazaki (LDP – Kōmeitō) 39.9%
Hidehiko Watanabe (SDP) 6.0%
Hiroaki Takayanagi (JCP) 5.1%
Iwate 1 Tatsuo Hirano DPJ Incumbent re-elected Tatsuo Hirano (DPJ – PNP) 62.6%
Shōichirō Chida (LDP – Kōmeitō) 25.2%
Masahiro Isawa (SDP) 6.8%
Akio Wakayama (JCP) 5.4%
Miyagi 2 Tomiko Okazaki DPJ Incumbents re-elected Tomiko Okazaki (DPJ) 52.7%
Jirō Aichi (LDP – Kōmeitō) 34.5%
Mikio Katō (JCP) 6.9%
Kiyomi Kishida (SDP) 5.9%
Jirō Aichi LDP
Akita 1 Katsutoshi Kaneda LDP Incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
Daigo Matsuura (I – DPJ, SDP) 50.4%
Katsutoshi Kaneda (LDP) 43.6%
Satoshi Suzuki (JCP) 6.0%
Yamagata 1 Masatoshi Abe LDP Incumbent retired
DPJ pickup
Yasue Funayama (DPJ – PNP) 57.3%
Mieko Shinohara (LDP – Kōmeitō) 36.8%
Masayuki Satō (JCP) 5.9%
Fukushima 2 Toyoaki Ōta LDP Incumbents retired
LDP and DPJ hold
DPJ gains top tōsen
Emi Kaneko (DPJ) 49.9%
Masako Mori (LDP – Kōmeitō) 37.0%
Shizue Miyamoto (JCP) 7.8%
Uzen Ogawa (SDP) 5.4%
Hiroko Wada DPJ
Eastern and Central Japan
PrefectureSeats upIncumbentsPartyResultCandidates
(Party – endorsements)
Vote share
Ibaraki 2 Yasu Kanō LDP Incumbents retired
LDP and DPJ hold
DPJ gains top tōsen
Yukihisa Fujita (DPJ) 43.4%
Tamon Hasegawa (LDP) 34.3%
Masao Ishizu (I) 9.2%
Takeo Taya (JCP) 6.9%
Toshitaka Kudō (PNP) 4.2%
Hiromitsu Mutō (Kyōsei) 1.9%
Moto Kobayashi DPJ
Tochigi 1 Masayuki Kunii LDP 1 seat lost by reapportionment
LDP incumbent lost re-election
DPJ incumbent re-elected
Hiroyuki Tani (DPJ – PNP) 53.9%
Masayuki Kunii (LDP – Kōmeitō) 41.4%
Kazunori Koike (JCP) 4.7%
Hiroyuki Tani DPJ
Gunma 1 Ichita Yamamoto LDP 1 seat lost by reapportionment
DPJ incumbent retired
LDP incumbent re-elected
Ichita Yamamoto (LDP – Kōmeitō) 62.0%
Kōji Fukuda (PNP – DPJ) 27.0%
Hiroaki Sakai (JCP) 11.1%
Giichi Tsunoda DPJ
Saitama 3 Taizō Satō LDP DPJ incumbent re-elected
LDP incumbent retired
LDP hold
Kōmeitō incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
DPJ gains top tōsen
Kuniko Kōda (DPJ) 23.5%
Toshiharu Furukawa (LDP) 21.6%
Ryūji Yamane (DPJ) 21.0%
Hiroshi Takano (Kōmeitō) 19.7%
Sumiko Ayabe (JCP) 8.7%
Etsuko Matsuzawa (SDP) 3.3%
Tetsuo Sawada (PNP) 2.3%
Hiroshi Takano Kōmeitō
Ryūji Yamane DPJ
Chiba 3 Hiroyuki Kurata LDP Incumbents retired
LDP and DPJ hold
DPJ gains top tōsen
Hiroyuki Nagahama (DPJ) 25.2%
Jun'ichi Ishii (LDP – Kōmeitō) 20.5%
Ken Kagaya (DPJ) 18.1%
Takaki Shirasuka (LDP – Kōmeitō) 14.7%
Fumiko Asano (JCP) 8.1%
Susumu Honma (I) 4.9%
Kazumi Aoki (SDP) 4.7%
Michiko Iwabuchi (PNP) 3.8%
Akira Imaizumi DPJ
 1 seat gained by reapportionment
DPJ pickup
Tokyo 5 Sanzō Hosaka LDP JCP incumbent retired
DPJ and Kōmeitō incumbents re-elected
LDP incumbent lost re-election
LDP hold
DPJ pickup
DPJ gains top tōsen
Masako Ōkawara (DPJ) 18.4%
Natsuo Yamaguchi (Kōmeitō) 13.5%
Kan Suzuki (DPJ) 13.2%
Tamayo Marukawa (LDP) 11.7%
Ryūhei Kawada (I) 11.6%
Sanzō Hosaka (LDP) 11.0%
Tomoko Tamura (JCP) 9.4%
Hitomi Sugiura (SDP) 3.5%
Keiichirō Nakamura (PNP) 2.6%
Dr. NakaMats (I) 1.6%
Kishō Kurokawa (Kyōsei) 1.2%
Yūko Tōjō (I) 1.0%
Nobuyuki Suzuki (Ishin) 0.4%
Kikuo Suda (Halve Parliament) 0.3 %
Toshiaki Kanda (I) 0.2%
5 other candidates 0.5%
Natsuo Yamaguchi Kōmeitō
Kan Suzuki DPJ
Yasuo Ogata JCP
 1 seat gained by reapportionment
Independent pickup
Kanagawa 3 Yutaka Kobayashi LDP LDP incumbent re-elected
LDP incumbent retires
Kōmeitō incumbent lost re-election
2 DPJ pickups
DPJ gains top tōsen
post-election: LDP incumbent disqualified → Kōmeitō hold (see note)
Hiroe Makiyama (DPJ) 25.4%
Yutaka Kobayashi (LDP) 22.5%
Masahi Mito (DPJ) 19.7%
Akira Matsu (Kōmeitō) 17.4%
Kimie Hatano (JCP) 9.7%
Shigeru Wada (SDP) 3.2%
Sachiko Saitō (PNP) 1.5%
Toshimori Mizoguchi (Ishin) 0.5%
Akira Matsu Kōmeitō
Yoriko Kawaguchi LDP
Niigata 2 Takahiro Kuroiwa DPJ DPJ incumbent re-elected
DPJ incumbent lost re-election
LDP pickup
Ichirō Tsukada (LDP – Kōmeitō) 32.1%
Yūko Mori (DPJ – PNP) 28.3%
Takahiro Kuroiwa (DPJ) 27.4%
Akiko Yamamoto (SDP) 7.2%
Katsutoshi Takeda (JCP) 4.3%
Mitsumasa Kusuhara (I) 0.6%
Yūko Mori DPJ
Toyama 1 Kōtarō Nogami LDP Incumbent lost re-election
PNP pickup
Takashi Morita (I – DPJ, SDP, PNP) 50.1%
Kōtarō Nogami (LDP) 45.7%
Kazuyuki Izumino (JCP) 4.2%
Ishikawa 1 Tetsuo Kutsukake LDP Incumbent retired
DPJ pickup
Yasuo Ichikawa (DPJ – PNP) 46.9%
Tomirō Yata (LDP – Kōmeitō) 46.2%
Mikiko Chikamatsu (JCP) 4.9%
Shigeru Hamasaki (I) 2.0%
Fukui 1 Ryūji Matsumura LDP Incumbent re-elected Ryūji Matsumura (LDP – Kōmeitō) 47.5%
Seizō Wakaizumi (DPJ – PNP) 46.8%
Kazuo Yamada (JCP) 5.7%
Yamanashi 1 Mahito Nakajima LDP Incumbent retired
DPJ pickup
Harunobu Yonenaga (DPJ – PNP) 55.3%
Kaname Irikuri (LDP – Kōmeitō) 37.1%
Hitoshi Hanada (JCP) 7.5%
Nagano 2 Hiromi Yoshida LDP Incumbents re-elected
DPJ gains top tōsen
Yūichirō Hata (DPJ) 47.9%
Hiromi Yoshida (LDP – Kōmeitō) 26.8%
Sanae Nakano (JCP) 17.3%
Hiroji Nakagawa (SDP) 8.0%
Yūichirō Hata DPJ
Gifu 2 Tsuyako Ōno LDP DPJ incumbent re-elected
LDP incumbent retired
LDP hold
Takao Fujii (I – LDP, Kōmeitō) 46.1%
Kenji Hirata (DPJ) 44.1%
Takao Katō (JCP) 9.8%
Kenji Hirata DPJ
Shizuoka 2 Yutaka Takeyama LDP DPJ incumbent re-elected
LDP incumbent retired
LDP hold
DPJ gains top tōsen
Kazuya Shinba (DPJ) 47.1%
Takao Makino (LDP – Kōmeitō) 31.4%
Ichi Kibe (I) 8.6%
Takashige Hiraga (JCP) 7.9%
Hirokazu Tsuchida (I) 4.9%
Kazuya Shinba DPJ
Aichi 3 Seiji Suzuki LDP LDP and DPJ incumbents re-elected
Kōmeitō incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
DPJ gains top tōsen
Kōhei Ōtsuka (DPJ) 26.4%
Seiji Suzuki (LDP) 22.0%
Kuniko Tanioka (DPJ – PNP) 21.6%
Tamotsu Yamamoto (Kōmeitō) 17.6%
Hiroko Hatta (JCP) 8.8%
Ryōhei Hirayama (SDP) 2.1%
Takashi Hyōdō (I) 0.7%
Masaji Tsuge (Ishin) 0.4%
Arakawa Kōtarō (Kyōsei) 0.4%
Kōhei Ōtsuka DPJ
Tamotsu Yamamoto Kōmeitō
Mie 1 Chiaki Takahashi DPJ Incumbent re-electedChiaki Takahashi (DPJ – PNP) 59.4%
Kōhei Onozaki (LDP – Kōmeitō) 33.0%
Takeshi Nakano (JCP) 7.7%
Western Japan
PrefectureSeats upIncumbentsPartyResultCandidates
(Party – endorsements)
Vote share
Shiga 1 Hidetoshi Yamashita LDP Incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
Hisashi Tokunaga (DPJ – PNP) 50.2%
Hidetoshi Yamashita (LDP – Kōmeitō) 40.6%
Ikuo Tsubota (JCP) 9.2%
Kyōto 2 Yoshihiro Nishida LDP DPJ incumbent re-elected
LDP incumbent retired
LDP hold
DPJ gains top tōsen
Kōji Matsui (DPJ) 43.6%
Shōji Nishida (LDP – Kōmeitō) 31.4%
Mariko Narumiya (JCP) 23.9%
Toyokazu Ōkida (Ishin) 1.1%
Kōji Matsui DPJ
Ōsaka 3 Shūzen Tanigawa LDP LDP and Kōmeitō incumbents re-elected
DPJ incumbent retired
DPJ hold
DPJ gains top tōsen
Satoshi Umemura (DPJ) 33.2%
Kazuyoshi Shirahama (Kōmeitō) 21.7%
Shūzen Tanigawa (LDP) 18.9%
Takeshi Miyamoto (JCP) 15.2%
Junko Shiraishi (PNP) 4.2%
Ryōichi Hattori (SDP – 9-jō Net) 3.7%
Takeshi Ueda (I) 1.4%
Shōnosuke Hayashi (I) 1.3%
Yoshio Ōtani (I) 0.5%
Kazuyoshi Shirahama Kōmeitō
Takashi Yamamoto DPJ
Hyōgo 2 Yoshitada Kōnoike LDP Incumbents re-elected
DPJ gains top tōsen
Yasuhiro Tsuji (DPJ) 44.1%
Yoshitada Kōnoike (LDP – Kōmeitō) 34.9%
Terufumi Horiuchi (JCP) 10.9%
Kazumi Hara (9-jō Net) 7.5%
Yukimitsu Nishida (I) 2.6%
Yasuhiro Tsuji DPJ
Nara 1vacant
(last held by Shōgo Arai, LDP)
DPJ pickup Tetsuji Nakamura (DPJ – PNP) 52.5%
Masatake Matsui (LDP – Kōmeitō) 36.9%
Atsuko Nakamura (JCP) 10.6%
Wakayama 1 Hiroshige Sekō LDP Incumbent re-elected Hiroshige Sekō (LDP – Kōmeitō) 52.3%
Naoto Sakaguchi (DPJ – PNP) 38.2%
Hideaki Kunishige (JCP) 9.5%
Tottori 1 Takayoshi Tsuneda LDP Incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
Yoshihiro Kawakami (DPJ – PNP) 51.5%
Takayoshi Tsuneda (LDP – Kōmeitō) 41.4%
Shōzō Ichitani (JCP) 7.2%
Shimane 1 Shuntarō Kageyama LDP Incumbent lost re-election
PNP pickup
Akiko Kamei (PNP – DPJ) 50.9%
Shuntarō Kageyama (LDP – Kōmeitō) 43.6%
Kazuhiko Gotō (JCP) 5.5%
Okayama 1 Toranosuke Katayama LDP Incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
Yumiko Himei (DPJ – PNP) 49.4%
Toranosuke Katayama (LDP – Kōmeitō) 44.2%
Kanji Uemoto (JCP) 4.7%
Fukuji Hayashi (I) 1.0%
Makoto Kitagawa (Ishin) 0.6%
Hiroshima 2vacant
(last held by Takeaki Kashimura, LDP)
Incumbent re-elected
DPJ pickup
DPJ gains top tōsen
Kōji Satō (DPJ – PNP) 43.9%
Kensei Mizote (LDP – Kōmeitō) 30.0%
Miyoko Kōno (I) 15.3%
Satoshi Fujimoto (JCP) 4.9%
Yui Yoshinaga (I) 4.2%
Jun'ichi Fukumoto (I) 1.7%
Kensei Mizote LDP
Yamaguchi 1 Yoshimasa Hayashi LDP Incumbent re-elected Yoshimasa Hayashi (LDP – Kōmeitō) 56.7%
Takako Tokura (DPJ – PNP) 36.2%
Sadayoshi Yoshida (JCP) 7.1%
Tokushima 1 Shūji Kitaoka LDP Incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
Tomoji Nakatani (DPJ) 54.0%
Shūji Kitaoka (LDP – Kōmeitō) 39.3%
Atsushi Hanaoka (JCP) 6.7%
Kagawa 1 Kenji Manabe LDP Incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
Emiko Uematsu (DPJ) 53.6%
Kenji Manabe (LDP – Kōmeitō) 40.6%
Michiko Chikaishi (JCP) 5.8%
Ehime 1 Katsutsugu Sekiya LDP Incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
Toshirō Tomochika (I – DPJ, SDP, PNP) 51.3%
Katsutsugu Sekiya (LDP – Kōmeitō) 43.1%
Katsuhiko Tanaka (JCP) 5.5%
Kōchi 1 Kōhei Tamura LDP Incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
Norio Takeuchi (DPJ) 44.7%
Kōhei Tamura (LDP – Kōmeitō) 41.4%
Nobuo Murakami (JCP) 13.9%
Southern Japan
PrefectureSeats upIncumbentsPartyResultCandidates
(Party – endorsements)
Vote share
Fukuoka 2 Masaji Matsuyama LDP Incumbents re-elected
DPJ gains top tōsen
Tsukasa Iwamoto (DPJ) 46.8%
Masaji Matsuyama (LDP – Kōmeitō) 36.9%
Miyuki Tanaka (JCP) 8.7%
Hideo Kanaiwa (SDP) 5.3%
Yoshihisa Baba (Ishin) 1.7%
Takayuki Shūnan (Kyōsei) 0.7%
Tsukasa Iwamoto DPJ
Saga 1 Takao Jinnouchi LDP Incumbent retired
DPJ pickup
Minoru Kawasaki (DPJ – SDP, PNP) 49.6%
Yoshiyuki Kawakami (LDP – Kōmeitō) 44.6%
Junko Nakao (JCP) 5.9%
Nagasaki 1 Tadashi Taura LDP Incumbent retired
DPJ pickup
Yukishige Ōkubo (DPJ – PNP) 49.0%
Tadatoshi Komine (LDP – Kōmeitō) 46.0%
Eiko Fuchise (JCP) 5.0%
Kumamoto 1 Issei Miura LDP Incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
Nobuo Matsuno (DPJ – PNP) 48.4%
Issei Miura (LDP – Kōmeitō) 47.5%
Yoshiaki Hashida (JCP) 4.1%
Ōita 1 Hiroko Gotō PNP Incumbent lost re-election
LDP pickup
Yōsuke Isozaki (LDP – Kōmeitō) 32.6%
Taiwa Yano (I – DPJ) 27.9%
Bunroku Matsumoto (I – SDP) 22.9%
Hiroko Gotō (PNP) 10.3%
Kai Yamashita (JCP) 6.2%
Miyazaki 1 Toshifumi Kosehira LDP Incumbent lost re-election
DPJ pickup
Itsuki Toyama (I – DPJ, SDP, PNP) 37.6%
Toshifumi Kosehira (LDP) 28.0%
Haruo Higashi (I) 14.3%
Motoi Nagamine (I) 14.0%
Hiromitsu Baba (JCP) 4.9%
Motohiro Ino (Kyōsei) 1.3%
Kagoshima 1 Yoshito Kajiya LDP Incumbent re-elected Yoshito Kajiya (LDP – Kōmeitō) 47.6%
Inao Minayoshi (DPJ – PNP) 47.3%
Haruki Yamaguchi (JCP) 5.0%
Okinawa 1 Junshirō Nishime LDP Incumbent lost re-election
Independent (OSMP) pickup
Keiko Itokazu (I – DPJ, JCP, SDP, PNP) 60.2%
Junshirō Nishime (LDP – Kōmeitō) 39.8%

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Akira Nagatsuma is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), a member of House of Representatives in the Diet. Nagatsuma is currently the deputy leader and the head of the Tokyo chapter of the CDP. He had served as the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare in the Hatoyama and Kan administration. He came to prominence when he reported missing records of public pension plans. A native of Nerima, Tokyo and graduate of Keio University, he was elected for the first time in 2000 after unsuccessful runs in 1995 and 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Japanese general election</span>

General elections were held in Japan on August 30, 2009 to elect the 480 members of the House of Representatives. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) defeated the ruling coalition in a landslide, winning 221 of the 300 constituency seats and receiving 42.4% of the proportional block votes for another 87 seats, a total of 308 seats to only 119 for the LDP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Tokyo prefectural election</span>

Prefectural elections for the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly were held on 12 July 2009. In the runup to the Japanese general election due by October they were seen as an important test for Taro Aso's ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the New Komeito. New Komeito considers Tokyo as an important stronghold and had repeatedly asked Prime Minister Aso to avoid holding the two elections within a month of each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Japanese House of Councillors election</span>

House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on July 11, 2010. In the previous elections in 2007 the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) had lost its majority to the Democratic Party (DPJ), which managed to gain the largest margin since its formation in 1996. The House of Councillors is elected by halves to six-year terms. The seats up for election in 2010 were last contested in the 2004 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Japanese House of Councillors election</span>

House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on July 21, 2013 to elect the members of the upper house of the National Diet. In the previous elections in 2010, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) remained the largest party, but the DPJ-led ruling coalition lost its majority. The House of Councillors is elected by halves to six year terms. In 2013, the class of Councillors elected in 2007 was up.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Results of the 2012 Japanese general election</span>

This article presents detailed results of the 2012 Japanese general election. It lists all elected Representatives in the 300 single-member districts and the 11 regional proportional representation (PR) blocks. Subsequent by-elections and the PR block replacement candidates to be elected later without additional vote in cases of death, resignation or disqualification (kuriage-tōsen) are not listed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Japanese general election</span>

General elections were held in Japan on 14 December 2014. Voting took place in all Representatives constituencies of Japan including proportional blocks to elect the members of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. As the cabinet resigns in the first post-election Diet session after a general House of Representatives election, the lower house election also led to a new election of the prime minister in the Diet, won by incumbent Shinzō Abe, and the appointment of a new cabinet. The voter turnout in this election remains the lowest in Japanese history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Japanese general election</span>

General elections were held in Japan on 22 October 2017. Voting took place in all Representatives constituencies of Japan – 289 single-member districts and eleven proportional blocks – in order to appoint all 465 members of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the then 707-member bicameral National Diet of Japan. Incumbent Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's governing coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Komeito party retained their seats in signs of what was perceived as weak opposition. The PM won his fourth term in office and held on to the two-thirds supermajority in order to implement policies on revising the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Japanese House of Councillors election</span>

House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on Sunday 10 July 2016 to elect 121 of the 242 members of the House of Councillors, the upper house of the National Diet, for a term of six years. As a result of the election, the Liberal Democratic Party–Komeito coalition gained ten seats for a total of 145, the largest coalition achieved since the size of the house was set at 242 seats.

A by-election for the Hokkaido-5th seat in the Japanese House of Representatives was held on 24 April 2016, coinciding with another by-election in Kyoto. The by-election was triggered by the death of the sitting member, former Speaker of the House and Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura from cerebral infarction in Osaka on 1 June 2015. Machimura, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party, was a long-serving representative for the district, holding the seat almost continuously between 1996 and 2015. The seat has been considered safe for the LDP, with Machimura retaining it on a 14.1% margin in the 2014 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Japanese House of Councillors election</span>

House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on 21 July 2019 to elect 124 of the 245 members of the House of Councillors, the upper house of the then 710-member bicameral National Diet, for a term of six years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Japanese House of Councillors election</span>

House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on 10 July 2022 to elect 125 of the 248 members of the upper house of the National Diet, for a term of six years. The elections occurred after the assassination of Shinzo Abe, former Prime Minister of Japan on 8 July 2022. The elected candidate with the fewest votes in the Kanagawa prefectural district will serve for three years, as the district combined its regular and byelections.

References

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  6. Abe approval rating hits all-time low
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