2014 Japanese general election

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2014 Japanese general election
Flag of Japan.svg
  2012 14 December 2014 2017  

All 475 seats in the House of Representatives
238 seats needed for a majority
Turnout52.65% (Decrease2.svg6.67pp; Const. votes)
52.65% (Decrease2.svg6.66pp; PR votes)
 First partySecond partyThird party
 
Shinzo Abe 20120501 (cropped 2).jpg
Banri Kaieda 201106.jpg
Toru Hashimoto and Kenji Eda.png
Leader Shinzō Abe Banri Kaieda Toru Hashimoto
Kenji Eda
Party LDP Democratic Innovation
Last election294 seats57 seatsDid not exist
Seats won2917341
Seat changeDecrease2.svg3Increase2.svg16New
Constituency vote25,461,44911,916,8494,319,646
% and swing48.10% (Increase2.svg5.09pp)22.51% (Decrease2.svg0.30pp)8.16% (New)
Regional vote17,658,9169,775,9918,382,699
% and swing33.11% (Increase2.svg5.49pp)18.33% (Increase2.svg2.84pp)15.72% (New)

 Fourth partyFifth party
 
Natsuo Yamaguchi 2014.jpg
Kazuo Shii cropped.jpg
Leader Natsuo Yamaguchi Kazuo Shii
Party Komeito JCP
Last election31 seats8 seats
Seats won3521
Seat changeIncrease2.svg4Increase2.svg13
Constituency vote765,3907,040,170
% and swing1.45% (Decrease2.svg0.04pp)13.30% (Increase2.svg5.42pp)
Regional vote7,314,2366,062,962
% and swing13.71% (Increase2.svg1.81pp)11.37% (Increase2.svg5.20pp)

2014 Japanese House of Representatives election.svg
districts and PR districts, shaded according to winners' vote strength

Prime Minister before election

Shinzō Abe
LDP

Elected Prime Minister

Shinzō Abe
LDP

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 (Constitution, Article 70), 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 (with some ministers re-appointed). The voter turnout in this election remains the lowest in Japanese history.

Contents

Background

In 2012, the Democratic Party government under Yoshihiko Noda decided to raise the Japanese consumption tax. This unpopular move allowed the Liberal Democratic Party under Shinzo Abe to regain control of the Japanese government in the 2012 Japanese general election. Abe proceeded to implement a series of economic programs known as "Abenomics" in a bid to stimulate the economy. Despite these programs, Japan entered a technical recession in mid-2014, which Abe blamed on the consumption tax hike, even though many members of the LDP supported the hike. Abe called a snap election on November 18, in part for the purpose of winning LDP backing to postpone the hike and pursue the Abenomics package. [1] [2]

The LDP government was widely expected to win the election in a landslide, and many observers viewed the snap election as a mechanism for Abe to entrench his government at a time of relative popularity. [3]

Under 2013 changes to the electoral law designed to reduce malapportionment, district boundaries in 17 prefectures were redrawn and five districts are eliminated without replacement (one each in Fukui, Yamanashi, Tokushima, Kōchi and Saga). The number of first-past-the-post seats is reduced to 295, the total number of seats decreases to 475. [4]

Opinion polls

Parties' approval ratings from 2013 to 2014

(Source: NHK)

Cabinet approval/disapproval ratings
Approval (blue) and Disapproval (red) Ratings for Second and Third Abe Cabinet 2nd and 3rd Abe Cabinet Approval Disapproval Ratings.png
Approval (blue) and Disapproval (red) Ratings for Second and Third Abe Cabinet

Results

Constituency Cartogram 47th Japanese General Election Cartogram.svg
Constituency Cartogram

The LDP lost a small number of seats but slightly enlarged its majority coalition with Komeito. Turnout was a record low, and many voters viewed the election as a waste of time and money. DPJ president Banri Kaieda lost his seat in Tokyo while the Japanese Communist Party doubled in strength. [9] [10] The right-leaning Japan Innovation Party and Party for Future Generations lost seats. [11]

Japan House of Representatives 2014.svg
PartyProportionalConstituencyTotal
seats
+/–
Votes%SeatsVotes%Seats
Liberal Democratic Party 17,658,91633.116825,461,44948.10223291−3
Democratic Party of Japan 9,775,99118.333511,916,84922.513873+16
Japan Innovation Party 8,382,69915.72304,319,6468.161141−13
Komeito 7,314,23613.7126765,3901.45935+4
Japanese Communist Party 6,062,96211.37207,040,17013.30121+13
Party for Future Generations 1,414,9192.650947,3961.7922New
Social Democratic Party 1,314,4412.461419,3470.79120
People's Life Party 1,028,7211.930514,5750.9722−7
Happiness Realization Party 260,1110.49000
Shiji Seitō Nashi 104,8540.2000New
New Renaissance Party 16,5970.03000
Genzei Nippon 32,7590.0600New
Future Party4,8830.0100New
Katsuko Inumaru and Republican Party4,6680.01000
World Economic Community Party 1,4160.00000
Independents1,511,2422.8588+3
Total53,334,447100.0018052,939,790100.00295475−5
Valid votes53,334,44797.4552,939,79096.71
Invalid/blank votes1,398,2832.551,801,5623.29
Total votes54,732,730100.0054,741,352100.00
Registered voters/turnout103,962,78552.65103,962,78452.65
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, CLEA

By prefecture

PrefectureTotal
seats
Seats won
LDP DPJ JIP Komei PFG PLP JCP SDP Ind.
Aichi 15861
Akita 33
Aomori 44
Chiba 13112
Ehime 44
Fukui 22
Fukuoka 1111
Fukushima 5311
Gifu 55
Gunma 55
Hiroshima 761
Hokkaido 12831
Hyōgo 1271121
Ibaraki 7511
Ishikawa 33
Iwate 4121
Kagawa 321
Kagoshima 541
Kanagawa 18132111
Kōchi 22
Kumamoto 541
Kyoto 642
Mie 532
Miyagi 651
Miyazaki 33
Nagano 5311
Nagasaki 44
Nara 431
Niigata 651
Ōita 321
Okayama 541
Okinawa 41111
Osaka 199154
Saga 211
Saitama 151221
Shiga 44
Shimane 22
Shizuoka 862
Tochigi 541
Tokushima 22
Tokyo 2522111
Tottori 22
Toyama 33
Wakayama 321
Yamagata 33
Yamaguchi 44
Yamanashi 211
Total2952233811922118

By PR block

PR blockTotal
seats
Seats won
LDP DPJ JIP Komei JCP SDP
Chūgoku 1152121
Hokkaido 832111
Hokuriku–Shinetsu 1153111
Kinki (Kansai) 2994844
Kyushu 21833421
Northern Kanto 2084332
Shikoku 63111
Southern Kanto 2284433
Tohoku 1454221
Tōkai 2185332
Tokyo 1763323
Total18068353026201

Notable losses

The most high-profile LDP candidate to lose re-election is Agriculture Minister Koya Nishikawa, who lost by 199 votes (0.2%) to former Governor of Tochigi Akio Fukuda. [12] He was questioned in October after allegedly receiving financial support from a fraudulent company. [13]

Amongst the DPJ members to lose their seats were party leader Banri Kaieda. [14] Party for Future Generations leader Shintaro Ishihara was also unsuccessful in his attempt to win a seat after receiving a low position on his party's representative ballot. [14]

Former leader of the now-dissolved Your Party and six-term representative for Tochigi-3rd district Yoshimi Watanabe was also defeated. [15]

The JCP gained its first single-seat constituency seat since the 1996 election. Amidst a growing anti-base movement in Okinawa, JCP candidate Seiken Akamine unseated LDP incumbent Kōnosuke Kokuba in a night marked with a nationwide JCP surge. [16]

Aftermath

In November 2015 the Grand Bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the inequality in vote weight due to malapportionment was still in an unconstitutional state (iken jōtai); however, as in previous such rulings, it dismissed the demand to invalidate the election. [17] [18]

References

  1. Wakatabe, Masazumi. "Election With A Cause: Why Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Must Call General Election Now". Forbes . Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  2. McCurry, Justin (2014-11-18). "Japan calls snap election". the Guardian. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  3. Boyd, John. "Japan's unwanted election: Why now?". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  4. Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications: 衆議院小選挙区の区割りの改定等について
  5. "Approval rating for Abe Cabinet falls below 50% for 1st time since inauguration: Mainichi poll (in English)". Mainichi Shimbun. 24 December 2013. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  6. "【産経・FNN合同世論調査】安倍内閣支持69・6%に上昇 鳩山内閣発足時を超える". MSN産経ニュース. Archived from the original on 2013-03-03. Retrieved 2013-03-24.
  7. TBS/JNN
  8. 1 2 内閣支持率71%、2回連続上昇...読売世論調査
  9. "Abe coalition secures big Japan election win with record low turnout". Reuters. 2014-12-15. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  10. "Japan election: Voters back Shinzo Abe as PM wins new term - BBC News". BBC News. 14 December 2014. Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  11. "Romping home". The Economist. ISSN   0013-0613 . Retrieved 2016-07-14.
  12. NHK(Japan Broadcasting Corporation). "NHK2014衆院選".
  13. "Sukyandaru: Shinzo Abe's plan to raise the profile of women in his cabinet is in tatters". The Economist . 25 October 2014.
  14. 1 2 "Abe tightens grip on power as ruling coalition wins 325 seats in Lower House election". The Japan Times. 15 December 2014.
  15. "Ex-Your Party leader Watanabe, ex-Tokyo Gov. Ishihara to lose seats". mainichi.jp. Archived from the original on 2014-12-15.
  16. Aoki, Mizuho (15 December 2014). "Resurgent JCP has night to remember". Japan Times . Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  17. 14年衆院選、1票の格差は「違憲状態」 最高裁大法廷 Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 25 November 2015
  18. Supreme Court says December election 'in state of unconstitutionality,' but won't nullify results The Japan Times, 25 November 2015

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