2023 Japanese unified local elections

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The 2023 Japanese unified local elections were held across the country on 9 and 23 April 2023. In total 15,047 candidates were elected in 1,008 races with a high of 1,685 in Hokkaido and a low of 1 in Okinawa. [1]

Contents

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) scored a comfortable victory. Six LDP (and Komei) endorsed candidates won the governorship. The LDP also managed to win more than half of all the prefectural assembly seats in the prefecture that held elections. [2]

Major victories were also won by Nippon Ishin no Kai. In addition to winning in its home base of Osaka, Ishin also won the contest for governor of Nara and increased the number of seats it now holds in neighboring prefectures. The party secured majorities in the Osaka prefectural and municipal assemblies for the first time ever, and they even took home six seats in the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly. [3]

Turnouts this month were at record lows for all elections with the exception of the Hakodate mayoral contest [4] and mayoral and assembly races in Tokyo wards which were higher than the last election but still did not top 50%. [5]

This maintains a pattern in Japan, where fewer and fewer people are casting ballots ever since the LDP took back control in 2012. [4]

Background

LDP's declining popularity and Kishida's attempts to rebound it

Since the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the historically dominant LDP began to face strong criticism over its link to the Unification Church. Abe's murderer Tetsuya Yamagami had claimed that his family was bankrupted by the church. Soon after the assassination, the Japanese media ventured into investigations which unearthed pervasive links between some of the LDP's senior politicians and the church, leading to a decline in the LDP's approval. [2]

However, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ramped up efforts to salvage his party's reputation. He promised to double defense spending and held a meeting with the South Korean President. He also paid a surprise visit to Ukraine. These foreign and defense policy achievements bolstered his approval rating. [2] [6]

Candidate shortage

One of the most critical issues of this election was a shortage of candidates. 556 candidates in nearly 40% of the districts ran uncontested. This reflected the increasingly dysfunctional nature of Japanese society due to its rapid population decline. [7]

April elections by prefecture in Stage 1 and 2

Source: [8]

1008 elections were held across all prefectures. The number of elections held by prefecture varied greatly from a low of one in Toyama and Okinawa prefectures to a high of 177 in the prefecture of Hokkaido which was by far the largest number.

Stage 1 on 9 April featured the following elections:

GovernorPrefectural AssemblyCity MayorCity Council
941616

Stage 2 on 23 April featured the following elections:

City MayorCity CouncilWard MayorWard CouncilTown HeadTown CouncilVillage HeadVillage Council
883061221972962888

This is the total list of all elections held on 9 and 23 April broken down by prefecture and position:

Prefecture9 April 2023 Elections23 April 2023 Elections
都道府県PrefectureGovernorPrefectural AssemblyCity MayorCity CouncilCity MayorCity CouncilWard MayorWard CouncilTown HeadTown CouncilVillage HeadVillage CouncilTotal by Prefecture
愛知県Aichi116232121248
秋田県Akita11226
青森県Aomori114111624
千葉県Chiba114171529
愛媛Ehime112
福井県Fukui111339
福岡県Fukuoka1131471541
福島県Fukushima1322412
岐阜県Gifu1410371127
群馬県Gunma128383631
広島県Hiroshima111231211
北海道Hokkaido111111273186414177
兵庫県Hyogo11391217
茨城県Ibaraki313231123
石川県Ishikawa1251514
岩手県Iwate11136
香川県Kagawa125412
鹿児島Kagoshima1324111
神奈川県Kanagawa11133102526
高知県Kochi13271317
熊本県Kumamoto11147101328
京都府Kyoto1136213
三重県Mie1242211
宮城県Miyagi11114
宮崎県Miyazaki17361321
長野県Nagano12731341545
長崎県Nagasaki1232513
奈良県Nara11361113733
新潟県Niigata11152313
大分県Oita11271113
岡山Okayama112127
沖縄県Okinawa11
大阪府Osaka11111017435
佐賀県Saga13138
埼玉県Saitama1122011237
滋賀県Shiga14128
島根県Shimane11114
静岡県Shizuoka121173621
栃木県Tochigi1152514
徳島県Tokushima111245115
東京都Tokyo4201221121465
鳥取県Tottori112116
富山県Toyama11
和歌山県Wakayama131510
山形県Yamagata11681118
山口県Yamaguchi11226
山梨県Yamanashi124111515
Total Positions9416168830612219729628881008

Results

Stage 1: 9 April

The LDP secured a comfortable victory in the elections. It won six of the nine gubernatorial races that were in play. Particularly pleasing for the party was its victory in Hokkaido, where the centre-left party CDP had been historically strong. The LDP however failed to do well in Western Japan, notably in Osaka and Nara. [2]

The Japan Innovation Party's victory also attracted significant attention, with political analysts predicting a strong future for it in the second round of local elections and at the national stage. [9]

Voter turnout for the all the gubernatorial elections was 46.8% while the average voter turnout for the mayoral elections in designated cities was 46.6%.

Voter turnout

Gubernatorial Elections
HokkaidoKanazawaFukuiOsakaNaraTottoriShimaneTokushimaOitaTotal
51.7%40.4%51.1%47.0%54.8%48.8%55.0%54.6%51.5%46.8%
Designated City Mayoral Elections
SapporoSagamiharaShizuokaHamamatsuOsakaHiroshimaTotal
51.0%45.5%45.6%49.4%48.3%34.5%46.6%

Governors

LDP=Liberal Democratic Party CDP=Constitutional Democratic Party Komeito=Komei JCP=Japan Communist Party NIK=Nippon Ishin no Kai (also refers to Osaka Ishin no Kai) DPFP=Democratic Party for the People SDP=Social Democratic Party, Sanseito=Sansei, Seijika Joshi 48 Party=48

  • * denotes prefectural chapter
Turnout (%)PartyEndorsed by (Recommended by)CandidateVotes%
Fukui Prefecture 51.08IndLDP, CDP, Komei Tatsuji Sugimoto 282,09789.6
JCPYukie Kanemoto32,77810.4
Hokkaido 51.70IndLDP, Komeito, NPD Naomichi Suzuki 1,692,43675.6
IndCDP (JCP, *DPFP, SDP, Netto Hokkaido) Maki Ikeda 479,67821.4
IndYoshio Monbetsu40,5791.8
IndDaisuke Mihara24,9781.1
Kanagawa Prefecture 40.35Ind*LDP, *Komei, *DPFP Yuji Kuroiwa 1,933,75367.6
IndJCPMakiko Kishi651,47322.8
48 Ayaka Otsu151,3615.3
IndKenichiro Kato123,9224.3
Nara Prefecture 54.82IshinMakoto Yamashita266,40444.4
Ind*CDPShou Hiraki196,72932.8
Ind*DPFP Shōgo Arai 97,03316.2
IndJCPItsuzō Oguchi19,8613.3
IndNobuko Nishiguchi13,0342.2
IndTakashi Hatano6,8061.1
Ōita Prefecture 51.45IndLDP, *KomeitoKiichiro Sato271,40057.3
IndKiyoshi Adachi202,62342.7
Osaka Prefecture 46.98 Osaka Ishin Hirofumi Yoshimura 2,439,44473.7
IndMayumi Taniguchi437,97213.2
IndJCP Kotaro Tatsumi 263,3558.0
Sansei Toshiaki Yoshino114,7643.5
48 Sayaka Sato32,4591.0
OtherHideya Inagaki22,3670.7
Shimane Prefecture 54.96IndLDP, CDP, Komeito, DPFP Tatsuya Maruyama 251,54586.3
JCP Shinichi Mukose29,96410.3
OtherMasaaki Moritane10,0833.5
Tokushima Prefecture 54.60Ind Masazumi Gotoda 130,99340.0
IndTōru Miki100,30930.6
Ind*LDP Kamon Iizumi 85,95626.2
JCP Motonori Furuta10,5463.2
Tottori Prefecture 48.85Ind*LDP, *CDP, *Komeito Shinji Hirai 200,44291.8
JCP Hideyuki Fukuzumi17,8228.2
Source: NHK

Prefectural assemblies

LDP=Liberal Democratic Party CDP=Constitutional Democratic Party Komeito=Komei JCP=Japan Communist Party *NIK=Nippon Ishin no Kai (also refers to Osaka Ishin no Kai) DPFP=Democratic Party for the People SDP=Social Democratic Party Sanseito=Sansei

SEATS WON
PrefectureLDPCDPISHINKOMEIJCPDPFPSDPSANSEIOTHERIND
Hokkaido4923182000017
Aomori255023001012
Iwate0000000000
Miyagi0000000000
Akita244011000011
Yamagata263012100010
Fukushima0000000000
Ibaraki0000000000
Tochigi293131000013
Gunma274132000013
Saitama5310193000116
Chiba4415184200120
Tokyo0000000000
Tokyo Wards0000000000
Kanagawa4826682000114
Niigata282020100020
Toyama31301100004
Ishikawa30202101104
Fukui182010001015
Yamanashi171012000016
Nagano223056000021
Gifu32102130007
Shizuoka382050100022
Aichi589051400322
Mie211021000815
Shiga21232210067
Kyoto28395940002
Osaka71551410001
Hyogo24421132000022
Nara172143100006
Wakayama27133110006
Tottori15703100009
Shimane21102210009
Okayama323063100010
Hiroshima291062000026
Yamaguchi250053100112
Tokushima211121000012
Kagawa25312150004
Ehime212131000019
Kochi19103600008
Fukuoka40143100100118
Saga27502100002
Nagasaki29303132005
Kumamoto31313000119
Oita173132100016
Miyazaki24404100006
Kagoshima332031000012
Okinawa0000000000
TOTALS115318512416975313423493

Source NHK [10] & Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications [1]

Mayors of Designated Cities

Designated cityTurnout (%)PartyEndorsed byCandidateVotes%
Hamamatsu 49.44IndependentLDP, KomeitoYusuke Nakano246,74580.3
IndependentJCPHiroshi Shimada60,53019.7
Hiroshima 34.53IndependentLDP, Komeito Kazumi Matsui 258,33680.0
Communist Party Atsumi Takami36,59511.3
IndependentHiroshi Oyama28,1868.7
Osaka 48.33 Osaka Ishin no Kai Hideyuki Yokoyama655,80264.6
IndependentTaeko Kitano268,22726.4
IndependentToshihiko Yamazaki45,3694.5
IndependentYasuhiko Aramaki30,9603.0
IndependentNepentha15,4081.5
Sagamihara 45.55IndependentKentaro Motomura196,21374.4
IndependentJCPYumiko Tatebe18,73117.1
IndependentKota Numakura17,8446.8
IndependentHiroyuki Nomoto17,5576.7
Association for Creating the

Future of Sagamihara

Toshiko Takeshima13,5055.1
Sapporo 50.99IndependentCDP, Daiichi Katsuhiro Akimoto 458,22156.0
IndependentKaoru Takano234,83428.7
IndependentJCPHideo Kibata124,69215.2
Shizuoka 45.61IndependentLDP, CDP, Komeito, DPFPTakashi Nanba149,11758.0
IndependentMakoto Yamada80,82931.4
Communist Party Chika Suzuki27,19710.6
Source: NHK

Designated city assemblies

LDP=Liberal Democratic Party CDP=Constitutional Democratic Party JCP=Japan Communist Party *NIK=Nippon Ishin no Kai (also refers to Osaka Ishin no Kai) DPFP=Democratic Party for the People SDP=Social Democratic Party

Designated cityTotal
seats
Seats won
LDP Komeito CDP JCP *NIK DPFP SDP Sanseitō OthersInd.
Chiba 5014887418
Fukuoka 62191274711110
Hamamatsu 46751330
Hiroshima 5417863218
Kawasaki 601711128714
Kobe 6517125915124
Kumamoto 482173211211
Kyoto 67191121410353
Nagoya 68201213314141
Niigata 501544621117
Okayama 4617834113
Osaka 8111182464
Sagamihara 46128824210
Saitama 6019111264116
Sakai 4871115186
Sapporo 682610187511
Yokohama 863415155836
Total1,00529217111293136144328152
Source: Asahi Shimbun

Stage II: 23 April

After the elections on 23 April the make up of prefectures, cities, Tokyo special wards, towns, and villages which held elections during the first and second stages, look like this [1] [5]

RACELDPCDPIshinKomeitoJCPDPFPReiwaSDP48SanseiOtherInd.Totals
Governorship0020000000079
Prefectural Assembly115318512816975310304234932264
City/Ward Mayor004000000009599
Town/Village Head00100000000124125
City/Ward Council12264632731206747101393118333439498453
Town/Village Council3123171682556040133035544101
Totals24106713661543107713839381100442822215047

Voter Turnout

Source: [5]

Elections in both town and villages, and cities recorded record low turnouts.

Cities: 63 mayoral races/47.73%, 280 city council elections/44.26%

Towns/Villages: 55 mayoral (heads) races/60.79%, 250 council elections/55.49%.

Aftermath and reactions

Anticipation began to grow that, banking on the success of the local elections, Prime Minister Kishida may call a snap general election. [2]

LDP election Chief Hiroshi Moriyama was quoted as saying, "People have recognized our achievements." [11]

See also

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References

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  3. Updated on April 10, 2023 05:17 JST. "Japan Innovation wins big in local elections, set to redraw opposition - Nikkei Asia". Asia.nikkei.com. Retrieved 2023-04-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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  5. 1 2 3 日本放送協会 (26 April 2023). "統一地方選 市町村議選・町村長選の投票率 過去最低 | NHK". NHKニュース. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  6. Walter SimJapan Correspondent (2023-03-23). "Japan PM Kishida's ruling party scores big wins in local election contests". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  7. "Japan has a candidate shortage for local elections on Sunday - Nikkei Asia". Asia.nikkei.com. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  8. "2023年 選挙スケジュール | 選挙ドットコム". 選挙ドットコム (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  9. Johnston, Eric (1970-01-01). "Nippon Ishin candidates win big in Kansai region local elections". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
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  11. Updated on April 10, 2023 05:17 JST. "Japan Innovation wins big in local elections, set to redraw opposition - Nikkei Asia". Asia.nikkei.com. Retrieved 2023-04-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)