The Japanese political process has three types of elections: general elections to the House of Representatives held every four years, elections to the House of Councillors held every three years to choose half of its members, and local elections held every four years for offices in prefectures and municipalities. Elections are supervised by Election Administration Commissions at each administrative level under the general direction of the Central Election Management Council, an extraordinary organ attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). The minimum voting age in Japan's non-compulsory electoral system was reduced from twenty to eighteen years in June 2016. Voters must satisfy a three-month residency requirement before being allowed to cast a ballot.
Tarō Yamamoto is a Japanese politician and former actor, who is the founder and current leader of the anti-establishment political party Reiwa Shinsengumi. Yamamoto served as a member of the House of Councillors from 2013 to 2019.
Yōichi Masuzoe is a Japanese politician who was elected to the position of governor of Tokyo in 2014 and resigned in June 2016 due to the misuse of public funds. He was previously a member of the Japanese House of Councillors and the Japanese Minister of Health, Labor, and Welfare. Before entering politics, he became well known in Japan as a television commentator on political issues.
Yoshitada Konoike was a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party and member of the House of Councillors in the Diet, formerly Minister of State for Disaster Mnagement. A native of Amagasaki, Hyōgo and graduate of Waseda University, he was elected to the House of Representatives for the first time in 1986 after an unsuccessful run in 1983. After losing his seat in 1993, he was elected to the House of Councillors for the first time in 1995 and is currently serving his fourth 6-year term.
The Party for Japanese Kokoro, 日本のこころを大切にする党 was a Japanese political party. It was formed as the Party for Future Generations on 1 August 2014 by a group of Diet members led by Shintarō Ishihara. The party adopted its final name in December 2015, and ended up dissolving in November 2018.
The 24th regular election of members of the House of Councillors was held on Sunday 10 July 2016 to elect 121 of the 242 members of the House of Councillors, the upper house of the 717-member bicameral National Diet of Japan, for a term of six years. As a result of the election, the LDP/Komeito coalition gained ten seats for a total of 146, the largest coalition achieved since the size of the house was set at 242 seats.
Japan Innovation Party (日本維新の会) is a Japanese political party. Formed as Initiatives from Osaka in October 2015 from a split in the old Japan Innovation Party, the party became the third-biggest opposition party in the National Diet following the July 2016 House of Councillors election.
Kazuyuki Hamada is a Japanese politician. He has served one term in the House of Councillors for the Tottori At-large district. After being elected in 2010 as a candidate for the Liberal Democratic Party, he changed parties three times before unsuccessfully seeking re-election as an independent candidate in 2016.
The Tottori-Shimane at-large district is a constituency of the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. It was formed pursuant to a 2015 revision of the Public Officers Election Law from a merger of the Tottori and Shimane at-large districts, the two smallest districts in the country, to address the imbalance in representation between rural and urban voters. The district has 1,068,348 registered voters and was contested for the first time at the House of Councillors election that was held on 10 July 2016.
The Akita at-large district is a constituency that represents Akita Prefecture in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. Councillors are elected to the house by single non-transferable vote (SNTV) for six-year terms. Since the establishment of the current House of Councillors electoral system in 1947, the district has elected two Councillors, one each at elections held every three years. It has 888,496 registered voters as of September 2015.
The Miyagi at-large district is a constituency that represents Miyagi Prefecture in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. It currently has three Councillors in the 242-member house, but this representation will decrease to two at the next election, to be held by July 2019.
The Ibaraki at-large district is a constituency that represents Ibaraki Prefecture in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. It has four Councillors in the 242-member house.
The Chiba at-large district is a constituency that represents Chiba Prefecture in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. It has six Councillors in the 242-member house.
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.
The Niigata at-large district is a constituency that represents Niigata Prefecture in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. It currently has three Councillors in the 242-member house, but this representation will decrease to two by July 2019.
The Ishikawa at-large district is a constituency that represents Ishikawa Prefecture in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. It has two Councillors in the 242-member house.
The Toyama at-large district is a constituency that represents Toyama Prefecture in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. It has two Councillors in the 242-member house.
The Shizuoka at-large district is a constituency that represents Shizuoka Prefecture in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. It has four Councillors in the 242-member house.
The Kyoto at-large district is a constituency that represents Kyoto Prefecture in the House of Councillors of the Diet of Japan. It has four Councillors in the 242-member house.
Kazuhiko Aoki is a Japanese politician. After an earlier career working for a television broadcasting company, he entered the field of politics, serving as secretary to his politician father Mikio Aoki since 1999. In 2010 he succeeded his father as a member in the House of Councillors for the Shimane at-large district. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party, Aoki was re-elected to the House in July 2016 as the member for the merged Tottori-Shimane at-large district.
