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121 (of the 242) seats in the House of Councillors 122 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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seats won by ■ - DPJ ■ - LDP ■ - New Komeito Contents■ - No election | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elections to the House of Councillors, the upper house of the legislature of Japan, were held on July 11, 2004. The House of Councillors consists of 242 members who serve six-year terms. Approximately half the members are elected every three years. At these elections 121 members were elected. Of these 73 were elected from the 47 prefectural districts and 48 were elected from a nationwide list by proportional representation.
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south.
Proportional representation (PR) characterizes electoral systems in which divisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. If n% of the electorate support a particular political party, then roughly n% of seats will be won by that party. The essence of such systems is that all votes contribute to the result - not just a plurality, or a bare majority. The most prevalent forms of proportional representation all require the use of multiple-member voting districts, as it is not possible to fill a single seat in a proportional manner. In fact, the implementations of PR that achieve the highest levels of proportionality tend to include districts with large numbers of seats.
The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, frequently abbreviated to LDP or Jimintō (自民党), is a conservative political party in Japan.
Komeito, formerly called New Komeito, is a political party in Japan founded by members of the Nichiren Buddhist-based new religious movement Soka Gakkai. The party is sometimes called by its former name, Clean Government Party.
The Japanese Communist Party is a political party in Japan and is one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world.
The Social Democratic Party, also known as the Social Democratic Party of Japan and previously as the Japan Socialist Party, is a political party that at various times advocated the establishment of a socialist Japan until 1996. Since its reformation and name change in 1996, it has defined itself as a social-democratic party.
The opposition Democratic Party won a plurality of the popular vote and seats contested in the election, sweeping the liberal urban areas. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party failed to win in its strongholds but once more received most of its support from the agrarian areas. New Komeito did well, reaching its goals, as did the Social Democratic Party. The Japanese Communist Party did not reach its goals, while independents won the rest of the seats. The Liberal League and Midori no kaigi failed to win any seats.
The Liberal League; Japanese Jiyu Rengo (自由連合); was a free market liberal party in Japan. It was a minor party which held one seat in the House of Representatives in the Diet at its peak. The League, whose name can also be translated as "Freedom League" or "Libertarian Union", had a liberal and free market libertarian political agenda.
Alliances and parties | PR Votes | % | Prefectural seats 2004 | Proportional seats 2004 | elected in 2001 | +/- | Total seats | +/- |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic Party (DPJ) Minshutō | 21,138,032 | 37.8 | 31 | 19 | 32 | +5 | 82 | +12 |
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jiyū Minshutō | 16,797,684 | 30.0 | 34 | 15 | 66 | -2 | 115 | -1 |
New Komeito Party (NKP) Shin Kōmeitō | 8,621,267 | 15.4 | 3 | 8 | 13 | +1 | 24 | +1 |
Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Nihon Kyōsantō | 4,363,107 | 7.8 | - | 4 | 5 | -4 | 9 | -11 |
Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shakai Minshutō | 2,990,667 | 5.2 | - | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Others | 2,022,134 | 3.6 | 5 | - | 2 | 0 | 7 | +4 |
Total (turnout 56.4 %) | 73 | 48 | 121 | 242 | ||||
Source: Adam Carr's Electoral Archive (2004) and (2001) |
Elected candidates in bold
Compiled from JANJAN's "The Senkyo" [1] and MIC official results. [2]
JANJAN, short for Japan Alternative News for Justices and New Cultures, was a Japanese online newspaper started by Ken Takeuchi, journalist and former mayor of Kamakura, Kanagawa. Launched in February 2003, the newspaper is credited for pioneering citizen journalism in Japan. After registration, anyone was free to post comments on the JANJAN website. However, there were different windows for registering depending on the nationality or ethnicity of the potential poster.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. Its English name was Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) prior to 2004. It is housed in the 2nd Building of the Central Common Government Office at 2-1-2 Kasumigaseki in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan.
Notes:
Northern Japan | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prefecture | Seats up | Incumbents | Party | Result | Candidates (Party) Vote share | |
Hokkaido | 2 | Naoki Minezaki | DPJ | Incumbents re-elected LDP gains top tōsen | Yoshio Nakagawa (LDP) 26.7% Naoki Minezaki (DPJ) 22.3% Masahito Nishikawa (DPJ) 19.9% Muneo Suzuki (I) 17.5% Chiharu Oka (JCP) 9.2% Keiko Yamauchi (SDP) 3.8% Nobuhito Sendai (Ishin) 0.7% | |
Yoshio Nakagawa | LDP | |||||
Aomori | 1 | Masami Tanabu | DPJ | Incumbent re-elected | Masami Tanabu (DPJ) 47.5% Hidenori Nara (LDP – Komeito) 40.4% Hiroaki Takayanagi (JCP) 6.2% Hiroshi Inoue (SDP) 5.9% | |
Iwate | 1 | Motoo Shiina | "Independent Assembly" | Incumbent retired DPJ pickup | Ryo Shuhama (DPJ) 48.5% Yosuke Takahashi (I – LDP, Ind. Ass.) 39.6% Kunihiko Takehana (SDP) 6.7% Akio Wakayama (JCP) 5.2% | |
Miyagi | 2 | Mitsuru Sakurai | DPJ | Incumbents re-elected LDP gains top tōsen | Ichiro Ichikawa (LDP) 38.4% Mitsuru Sakurai (DPJ) 37.8% Ikuko Endo (JCP) 9.8% Toshiaki Sugawara (I) 8.6% Katsuo Okita (SDP) 5.4% | |
Ichiro Ichikawa | LDP | |||||
Akita | 1 | Shigenobu Saito | LDP | Incumbent lost re-election Independent pickup | Yoetsu Suzuki (I) 50.2% Shigenobu Saito (LDP) 42.9% Kazunobu Imagawa (JCP) 7.0% | |
Yamagata | 1 | Koichi Kishi | LDP | Incumbent re-elected | Koichi Kishi (LDP) 46.8% Yasue Funayama (DPJ) 36.8% Masahiro Kimura (SDP) 7.1% Masayuki Sato (JCP) 5.4% | |
Fukushima | 2 | Yūhei Satō | DPJ | Incumbents re-elected | Yūhei Satō (DPJ) 45.4% Mitsuhide Iwaki (LDP) 41.5% Yumiko Abe (JCP) 13.1% | |
Mitsuhide Iwaki | LDP | |||||
Eastern and Central Japan | ||||||
Prefecture | Seats up | Incumbents | Party | Result | Candidates (Party – endorsements) Vote share | |
Ibaraki | 2 | Akira Gunji | DPJ | Incumbents re-elected LDP gains top tōsen | Hiroshi Okada (LDP) 50.5% Akira Gunji (LDP) 41.3% Takeo Taya (JCP) 8.2% | |
Hiroshi Okada | LDP | |||||
Tochigi | 2 | Susumu Yanase | DPJ | Incumbents re-elected | Susumu Yanase (DPJ) 49.2% Tetsuro Yano (LDP) 42.1% Setsuko Nomura (JCP) 8.7% | |
Tetsuro Yano | LDP | |||||
Gunma | 2 | Hirofumi Nakasone | LDP | LDP incumbent re-elected LDP incumbent lost re-election DPJ pickup DPJ gains top tōsen | Yukio Tomioka (DPJ) 34.5% Hirofumi Nakasone (LDP) 30.3% Kosei Ueno (LDP) 29.4% Shinmei Ogasawara (JCP) 5.8% | |
Kosei Ueno | LDP | |||||
Saitama | 3 | Masakazu Sekiguchi | LDP | LDP incumbent re-elected DPJ and JCP incumbents retired DPJ hold Komeito pickup DPJ gains top tōsen | Chiyako Shimada (DPJ) 28.4% Masakazu Sekiguchi (LDP) 24.8% Makoto Nishida (Komeito) 18.6% Hayato Yuge (DPJ) 12.8% Sachiyo Abe (JCP) 11.9% Fumihiro Himori (SDP) 3.4% | |
Renzō Togashi | JCP | |||||
Toshio Fujii | DPJ | |||||
Chiba | 2 | Wakako Hironaka | DPJ | Incumbents re-elected | Wakako Hironaka (DPJ) 49.1% Kazuyasu Shiina (LDP) 39.0% Fumiko Asano (JCP) 11.9% | |
Kazuyasu Shiina | LDP | |||||
Tokyo | 4 | Toshio Ogawa | DPJ | Komeito, JCP and Green incumbents retired LDP pickup LDP gains top tōsen | Masaharu Nakagawa (LDP) 18.3% Toshio Ogawa (DPJ) 17.9% Renhō (DPJ) 16.7% Yūji Sawa (Komeito) 14.9% Yukio Aoshima (I) 10.7% Junichiro Imamura (JCP) 8.2% Teruaki Masumoto (I) 6.9% Naoto Nakagawa (SDP) 3.2% Tetsu Ueda (I) 3.0% Hisayoshi Matsumura (Ishin) 0.2% Mitsuo Matayoshi (WECP) 0.2% | |
Toshiko Hamayotsu | Komeito | |||||
Miyo Inoue | JCP | DPJ incumbent re-elected Komeito hold DPJ pickup | ||||
Atsuo Nakamura | "Green Conference" | |||||
Kanagawa | 3 | Keiichirō Asao | DPJ | DPJ incumbents re-elected JCP incumbent lost re-election LDP pickup LDP gains top tōsen | Akio Koizumi (LDP) 33.2% Keiichirō Asao (DPJ) 23.4% Keiko Chiba (DPJ) 23.0% Kimie Hatano (JCP) 10.9% Keiko Ueda (SDP) 7.0% Hajime Manabe (I) 1.9% Isao Kawakubo (Ishin) 0.6% | |
Kimie Hatano | JCP | |||||
Keiko Chiba | DPJ | |||||
Niigata | 2 | Naoki Tanaka | LDP | LDP incumbent re-elected SDP incumbent retired SDP hold SDP gains top tōsen | Masamichi Kondō (I – DPJ, SDP) 34.9% Naoki Tanaka (LDP) 29.9% Ichirō Tsukada (LDP) 26.1% Kayoko Kuwahara (JCP) 9.1% | |
Kinuko Ōbuchi | SDP | |||||
Toyama | 1 | Masaaki Tanibayashi | DPJ | Incumbent lost re-election LDP pickup | Tsunenori Kawai (LDP) 46.3% Masaaki Tanibayashi (DPJ) 37.2% Akira Ogawa (SDP) 11.3% Toshihiko Ueda (JCP) 5.2% | |
Ishikawa | 1 | Sōta Iwamoto | "Independent Assembly" | Incumbent retired LDP pickup | Naoki Okada (LDP) 56.1% Takashi Katō (DPJ) 36.6% Masayuki Satō (JCP) 7.3% | |
Fukui | 1 | Masaaki Yamazaki | LDP | Incumbent re-elected | Masaaki Yamazaki (LDP) 56.0% Makiko Isokawa (DPJ) 37.7% Kunihiro Uno (JCP) 6.2% | |
Yamanashi | 1 | Azuma Koshiishi | DPJ | Incumbent re-elected | Azuma Koshiishi (DPJ) 55.1% Kenshi Ōshiba (I) 37.1% Hitoshi Hanada (JCP) 7.8% | |
Nagano | 2 | Toshimi Kitazawa | DPJ | Incumbents re-elected | Toshimi Kitazawa (DPJ) 40.9% Masatoshi Wakabayashi (LDP) 27.2% Norihisa Yamaguchi (JCP) 11.5% Wakako Yamaguchi (SDP) 10.4% Roppei Hori (I) 9.9% | |
Masatoshi Wakabayashi | LDP | |||||
Gifu | 2 | Iwao Matsuda | LDP | Incumbents re-elected | Iwao Matsuda (LDP) 44.5% Yasuo Yamashita (DPJ) 43.8% Takao Katō (JCP) 11.7% | |
Yasuo Yamashita | DPJ | |||||
Shizuoka | 2 | Tōru Ueno | DPJ | Incumbents lost re-election LDP and DPJ hold LDP gains top tōsen | Yukiko Sakamoto (LDP) 29.3% Yūji Fujimoto (DPJ) 21.6% Tōru Ueno (DPJ) 21.2% Yoshihiko Yamashita (LDP) 20.1% Yukihiro Shimazu (JCP) 7.8% | |
Yoshihiko Yamashita | LDP | |||||
Aichi | 3 | Yoshitake Kimata | DPJ | DPJ incumbents re-elected JCP incumbent lost re-election LDP pickup LDP gains top tōsen | Katsuhito Asano (LDP) 28.2% Taisuke Satō (DPJ) 25.4% Yoshitake Kimata (DPJ) 23.0% Hiroko Hatta (JCP) 14.3% Yasuo Koida (I) 6.1% Kenji Sasaki (I) 2.4% Yoshifumi Hayashida (Ishin) 0.7% | |
Taisuke Satō | DPJ | |||||
Hiroko Hatta | JCP | |||||
Mie | 1 | Jūrō Saitō | LDP | Incumbent retired DPJ pickup | Hirokazu Shiba (DPJ) 52.1% Kenji Tsuda (LDP) 41.0% Takeshi Nakano (JCP) 6.8% | |
Western Japan | ||||||
Prefecture | Seats up | Incumbents | Party | Result | Candidates (Party – endorsements) Vote share | |
Shiga | 1 | Eisuke Kawamoto | LDP | Incumbent retired DPJ pickup | Kumiko Hayashi (DPJ) 48.0% Kenichiro Ueno (LDP) 41.5% Toshirō Hayashi (JCP) 10.5% | |
Kyoto | 2 | Tetsurō Fukuyama | DPJ | DPJ incumbent re-elected JCP incumbent lost re-election LDP pickup | Tetsurō Fukuyama (DPJ) 43.8% Satoshi Ninoyu (LDP) 32.4% Tokiko Nishiyama (JCP) 23.8% | |
Tokiko Nishiyama | JCP | |||||
Ōsaka | 3 | Kiyoshi Nishikawa | Dainiin Club | Komeito incumbent re-elected Dainiin incumbent retired JCP incumbent lost reelection DPJ pickup | Motoyuki Odachi (DPJ) 24.9% Eiichi Yamashita (Komeito) 21.8% Issei Kitagawa (LDP) 20.1% Kiyomi Tsujimoto (I) 19.7% Takeshi Miyamoto (JCP) 12.1% Yoshio Masuda (I) 1.0% Toyokazu Ōkido (Ishin) 0.4% | |
Eiichi Yamashita | Komeito | |||||
Takeshi Miyamoto | JCP | LDP pickup DPJ gains top tōsen | ||||
Hyogo | 2 | Shōji Motooka | DPJ | DPJ incumbent retired JCP incumbent lost re-election DPJ hold LDP pickup | Shunichi Mizuoka (DPJ) 38.6% Shinsuke Suematsu (LDP) 33.5% Tatsumi Ōsawa (JCP) 14.0% Kazumi Hara (I) 7.3% Ichizō Miyamoto (I) 4.7% Kōjin Katakami (I) 1.9% | |
Tatsumi Ōsawa | JCP | |||||
Nara | 1 | Minao Hattori | LDP | Incumbent lost re-election DPJ pickup | Kiyoshige Maekawa (DPJ) 48.9% Minao Hattori (LDP) 41.1% Yoshinori Mameda (JCP) 10.0% | |
Wakayama | 1 | Yōsuke Tsuruho | LDP | Incumbent re-elected | Yōsuke Tsuruho (LDP) 53.8% Shika Kawajō (DPJ) 35.1% Hideaki Kunishige (JCP) 9.9% Yoshiya Seki (Ishin) 1.2% | |
Tottori | 1 | Kōtarō Tamura | LDP | Incumbent re-elected | Kōtarō Tamura (LDP) 49.7% Masahide Tsuchiya (DPJ) 37.6% Tomoko Ichitani (JCP) 12.7% | |
Shimane | 1 | Mikio Aoki | LDP | Incumbent re-elected | Mikio Aoki (LDP) 62.1% Itaru Gōdo (DPJ) 30.3% Katsuhiko Gotō (JCP) 7.5% | |
Okayama | 1 | Satsuki Eda | DPJ | 1 seat lost by reapportionment DPJ incumbent re-elected LDP incumbent lost re-election | Satsuki Eda (DPJ) 55.7% Norifumi Katō (LDP) 39.0% Kanji Uemoto (JCP) 5.3% | |
Norifumi Katō | LDP | |||||
Hiroshima | 2 | Ikuo Kamei | LDP | Incumbents re-elected DPJ gains top tōsen | Minoru Yanagida (DPJ) 42.6% Ikuo Kamei (LDP) 41.3% Mitsuo Okamoto (I) 9.1% Satoshi Fujimoto (JCP) 7.1% | |
Minoru Yanagida | DPJ | |||||
Yamaguchi | 1 | Masuo Matsuoka | DPJ | Incumbent retired LDP pickup | Nobuo Kishi (LDP) 49.1% Hiroko Ōizumi (DPJ) 41.9% Sadayoshi Yoshida (JCP) 6.0% Shigeo Hiramatsu (I) 1.8% Seiichirō Hirata (Ishin) 1.1% | |
Tokushima | 1 | Sekiko Takahashi | "Green Conference" | Incumbent retired LDP pickup | Masakatsu Koike (LDP) 47.1% Kyōko Tōjō (DPJ) 43.3% Takayuki Kubo (JCP) 9.6% | |
Kagawa | 1 | Toshio Yamauchi | LDP | Incumbent re-elected | Toshio Yamauchi (LDP) 46.6% Emiko Uematsu (DPJ) 45.0% Michiko Chikaishi (JCP) 8.3% | |
Ehime | 1 | Takeshi Noma | LDP | Incumbent retired LDP hold | Junzō Yamamoto (LDP) 49.4% Masamitsu Saitō (DPJ) 42.0% Masahiro Sakane (JCP) 8.6% | |
Kōchi | 1 | Hiroyuki Morishita | LDP | Incumbent lost re-election Independent pickup | Hajime Hirota (I) 43.6% Hiroyuki Morishita (LDP) 35.7% Sachi Nakane (JCP) 14.3% Yumiko Matsuoka (I) 6.4% | |
Southern Japan | ||||||
Prefecture | Seats up | Incumbents | Party | Result | Candidates (Party – endorsements) Vote share | |
Fukuoka | 2 | Kazuo Hirotomo | Komeito | Komeito incumbent retired LDP incumbent re-elected DPJ pickup DPJ gains top tōsen | Tsutomu Ōkubo (DPJ) 40.6% Gōtarō Yoshimura (LDP) 30.7% Chū Furukawa (I) 12.5% Toyoomi Tsuno (JCP) 8.8% Kunihiro Etō (I) 4.7% Yutaka Fujimoto (I) 1.8% Tomotada Ishihara (Ishin) 0.9% | |
Gōtarō Yoshimura | LDP | |||||
Saga | 1 | Hiromi Iwanaga | LDP | Incumbent re-elected | Hiromi Iwanaga (LDP) 47.7% Minoru Kawasaki (DPJ) 42.9% Akemi Mutō (JCP) 9.5% | |
Nagasaki | 1 | Sōichirō Matsutani | LDP | Incumbent lost re-election DPJ pickup | Tadashi Inuzuka (DPJ) 49.5% Sōichirō Matsutani (LDP) 43.6% Toshihiro Haraguchi (JCP) 6.8% | |
Kumamoto | 1 | Ryōichi Honda | DPJ | 1 seat lost by reapportionment LDP incumbent re-elected DPJ incumbent lost re-election | Hitoshi Kimura (LDP) 48.9% Ryōichi Honda (DPJ) 44.3% Nobuhiro Yamamoto (JCP) 6.8% | |
Hitoshi Kimura | LDP | |||||
Oita | 1 | Toshiya Nakamichi | LDP | Incumbent lost re-election DPJ pickup | Shinya Adachi (DPJ) 54.8% Toshiya Nakamichi (LDP) 38.7% Masaru Ono (JCP) 4.6% Kunio Fujiki 1.9% | |
Miyazaki | 1 | Mitsuhiro Uesugi | LDP | Incumbent lost re-election Independent pickup | Shinpei Matsushita (I) 48.5% Mitsuhiro Uesugi (LDP) 45.6% Hiromitsu Baba (JCP) 5.9% | |
Kagoshima | 1 | Hiroshi Moriyama | LDP | 1 seat lost by reapportionment Incumbent retired LDP hold | Tetsurō Nomura (LDP) 53.2% Inao Minayoshi (DPJ) 36.9% Katsuko Iwaizako (JCP) 9.9% | |
vacant (last held by Kichio Inoue, LDP) | ||||||
Okinawa | 1 | Sōkō Shimabuku | "Independent Assembly" | Incumbent retired Independent (OSMP) pickup | Keiko Itokazu (I) 58.9% Masatoshi Onaga (LDP) 41.1% |
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