 | You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (April 2024)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
On April 28, 2024, by-elections in Japan were held in order to fill vacancies in the National Diet of Japan. [1]
| Constituency | House | Outgoing MP | Party | Reason | Member elected | Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nagasaki 3rd district | House of Representatives | Yaichi Tanigawa | Independent [lower-alpha 1] | Resigned on 24 January 2024 [3] [4] | Katsuhiko Yamada | CDP |
| Shimane 1st district | House of Representatives | Hiroyuki Hosoda | LDP | Died on 10 November 2023 [5] | Akiko Kamei | CDP |
| Tokyo 15th district | House of Representatives | Mito Kakizawa | Independent [lower-alpha 2] | Resigned on 1 February 2024 [7] | Natsumi Sakai | CDP |
Mito Kakizawa, who has run for and been elected (proportionally in 2009 and 2021) in every election since 2009, was indicted for illegal financing during a Tokyo mayoral election. He resigned soon after, leaving the seat open for a by-election. Four political parties have nominated candidates, all of which are listed below. The field grew to seven candidates in late March.
Additionally, three other people have been rumored, or have planned previously, to run.
The LDP were resistant to field a candidate. The LDP had previously began searching for a candidate, but paused, stating that "adjustments were needed." It also stated its expectation in support from Yuriko Koike and Komeito. The CDP has stated interest in fielding a candidate, and did so in late March, nominating Natsumi Sakai. [20] Eventually, on 2 April, party secretary Toshimitsu Motegi announced that it would not field a candidate, instead endorsing Hirotada Ototake, citing the slush fund scandal as potentially wounding the chance of LDP candidates. [21] With the LDP refusing to endorse a candidate, they have effectively lost the by-election by default. Polling has shown a slight, but consistent, CDP lead, with Kanazawa finishing second and Ototake finishing third. The candidate of Koike finishing third could signal a decline in her influence.
Sakai won the election with 28.98% of the vote, a clear plurality of over ten points against her closest opponent, Genki Sudo, who finished second in what was considered a somewhat surprising result for him. He was only backed by Reiwa Shinsengumi and its party leader, Taro Yamamoto. [22] The Conservative Party of Japan also captured a strong percentage of the vote for its first showing in an election, with its candidate placing above the recommended Tomin First no Kai candidate for the fourth spot. Sakai's victory was mainly reasoned on her strong support from the CDP, Japanese Communist Party, and independents in the area. [23]
The result was considered disappointing for Nippon Ishin no Kai, which wished to finish at least second. Party leader Nobuyuki Baba stated "It's a very difficult situation to win in single-seat constituencies outside of Kansai." [24]
A large reason for the severe loss of Hirotada Ototake, who was backed by a number of forces (including influencial Governor Yuriko Koikes local force and the Democratic Party for the People) was chalked up to the divide in governmental forces, particularly with Komeito and local LDP forces. Ototake had gone through a myriad of scandals (including a revelation that he had an affair), and, furthermore, had refused to back the LDP in the Koto mayoral election which had occurred late last year, which also saw a split between Koike and the LDP. Additionally, Komeito had large reservations, mainly circled around the fact they had not been consulted in his recommendation. Neither of the parties ended up recommending him, with Komeito letting its members freely vote. [23]
The result also led to the resignation of the DPP regional branch chief. [24]
Hiroyuki Hosoda, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives, announced his intention to resign due to health problems, and stepped down in September. He died a little over a month later. He has represented the district since the first introduction of FPTP districts in 1996, and previously served Shimane in a multimember district starting from 1990. Shimane is viewed as an LDP stronghold. [25] Two candidates have registered for the by-election.
Additionally, there was two other candidates who have since dropped out, or did not make the ballot.
Where as Shimane is usually extremely loyal to the LDP brand, with neither of its two seats having elected a single opposition member since the electoral reform took place in 1996, the LDPs power in the prefecture has waned due to extreme controversy faced by Hiroyuki Hosoda, who is alleged to have been involved in sexual harassment and to have also dealt with the Unification Church. [25]
Furthermore, with the death of Noboru Takeshita and Wataru Takeshita, who both held strong sway over the politics inside the prefecture, the LDP has struggled to deal with the consequences. The CDP also believe in the potential seat as a flip, and believe it to serve as a bellwether for the next general election; Kenta Izumi, Katsuya Okada and Yukio Edano have traveled to the district to drum up support Kamei's candidacy. [25] LDP party secretary Toshimitsu Motegi has stated that it will not run a candidate in either of the two other by-elections occurring concurrently, citing its want to focus on the contest in the district. [21] Polling has shown a narrow, but consistent, lead in favor of Kamei.
Despite it being the only district where the LDP had chosen to run a candidate, Kamei won with 58.82% of the vote, over fifteen points ahead of Nishikori. There were a large number of reasons given for the defeat, mainly that the 2023–2024 Japanese slush fund scandal, which previous representative Hiroyuki Hosoda, who was head of the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai for a seven years, was thought to possibly be involved in. [32]
Another reason for the loss was chalked up to a disconnect between two warring factions inside the LDP branch of the prefecture, mainly those centered around the former representative, Hosoda, and the other focused on former Prime Minister of Japan and his family, Noboru Takeshita and Wataru Takeshita. The two factions failed to properly coordinate on a campaign, with the Takeshita group attempting to distance themselves from Hosoda while the Hosoda faction continued to bring him up. One supporter of the Takeshita faction said "If you want support from the people of the prefecture, you shouldn't bring up Hosoda. What are you thinking?" [32]
Kamei was also able to capture a secure amount of opposition support as well as independents (exit polls said she had won around 70% of independents exactly), and even captured nearly 30% of LDP voters. The LDP voter base also dwindled in general; people who listed the LDP as their main party had gone down to 37%, compared to 50% in 2021. The result made it the first time ever that the opposition had won a seat in Shimane since the introduction of FPTP districts. [32]
Yaichi Tanigawa, who represented the district from 2003 onward (with exception for 2009, where he was elected proportionally), was indicted by Tokyo Police for receiving over ¥40 million in kickbacks from the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai. He resigned on 19 January, and left the LDP. [3]
So far, two candidates have been announced.
The LDP has yet to field a candidate. There has been controversy inside the party on if to field one or not; Nagasaki 3rd is set to be eliminated at the next election due to reapportionment of districts, and Tanigawa's scandal has severely damaged the image of the party inside the district. Chairman of the Nagasaki Prefectural Federation, Yuichiro Koga, and Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party Toshimitsu Motegi have met on several occasions to discuss the possibility of sitting out the election, with Motegi reportedly in support of sitting out and Koga willing to follow the party line. It has been reported that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been reluctant to side with Motegi, due to murmurs of Motegi wanting to take down Kishida and his faction going into the future. The party has yet to make an official statement. [38] [39] [40] Party secretary Toshimitsu Motegi confirmed that it would not run a candidate, citing the fact the district would be eliminated, and also due to the wish to focus on the contest in Shimane 1st. [21] Polling is limited due to the odd nature surrounding the district, but Yamada has been shown as leading over Inoue.
Yamada won the election with 68.36% of the vote. Voter turnout was incredibly low, at just 35.45%. Analysis is generally hard to gather, but suggestion has been put forward that Ishin has faced continuous difficulties in its goal to pass the CDP as primary leader of the opposition. Baba stated that he would continue not to cooperate with the CDP or any other opposition forces. [41]
Nobuteru Ishihara is a Japanese politician, who served as the Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party from 2010 to 2012. Previously, he was also served as the House of Representatives as representative for the Fourth District of Tokyo since 1990.
Tokyo 10th district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. As of 2012, 351,821 eligible voters were registered in the district. It covers northwestern parts of the former city of Tokyo. Originally it consisted of the ward of Toshima and parts of Nerima, but after redistricting in 2017 it comprises parts of four wards, Toshima, Nerima, Nakano and Shinjuku.
Tokyo 8th district is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan. It is located in western part of former Tokyo City and is almost coterminous with Suginami Ward. The district was created in 1994 as part of an electoral reform effort in the Japanese House of Representatives, and was first implemented in the 1996 general election.
Hokkaidō 5th district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It consists of Atsubetsu ward and a portion of Shiroishi ward in Hokkaido's city of Sapporo and Ishikari Subprefecture excluding Sapporo and Ishikari city. As of 2009, 453,752 eligible voters were registered in the district.
The 2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election took place on February 9, 2014 to replace outgoing Governor Naoki Inose, who resigned effective December 24, 2013. Yōichi Masuzoe was declared the winner in exit polling, with a substantial lead over the fifteen other candidates. His final tally was 2,112,979 votes (42.86%), with his two closest competitors Morihiro Hosokawa and Kenji Utsunomiya failing to break the 20% mark. Total turnout was 4,930,251 (46.14%), significantly lower than the 62.6% turnout in the 2012 election.
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.
A by-election for the Fukuoka 6th district in the Japanese Japanese House of Representatives was held on 23 October 2016. The by-election was called following the death of the incumbent member Kunio Hatoyama, a former cabinet minister and member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), from duodenal ulcer in Tokyo on 21 June 2016. Hatoyama had served the district since 2005 and defended the seat by a margin of 43.94% in the 2014 election, where he faced only a Japanese Communist Party candidate. A separate by-election for the Tokyo 10th district was held on the same day.
A by-election for the Tokyo 10th district in the Japanese Japanese House of Representatives was held on 23 October 2016 to replace Yuriko Koike, who vacated the seat to contest the Tokyo gubernatorial election in July 2016. Koike, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), had represented the district since the December 2012 general election and also served a previous term from 2005 to 2009. The election was won by LDP candidate Masaru Wakasa, an incumbent member for the Tokyo proportional representation block who had supported Koike during her gubernatorial campaign. A separate by-election for the Fukuoka 6th district was held on the same day.
Okinawa 3rd district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It is located in Okinawa Prefecture and encompasses the cities of Nago, Okinawa, Uruma, Kunigami District and parts of Shimajiri District. As of 2016, 312,171 eligible voters were registered in the district.
Atsushi Nonaka is a Japanese politician and a member of the House of Representatives.
Tokyo's 13th district is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the national Diet of Japan.
Kimi Onoda is a Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party. She served as Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Defense from 2022 to 2023 and is a member of the House of Councillors representing Okayama. She previously served as Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Justice from 2020 to 2021 under the Suga Cabinet.
In 2023, by-elections were held in Japan in order to fill vacancies in the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors, the two houses of the National Diet of Japan.
The Conservative Party of Japan is a conservative, Japanese nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Japan founded by novelist Naoki Hyakuta and journalist Kaori Arimoto in 2023 following the passage of the LGBT Understanding Promotion Act. The party, claiming to "protect Japan's national polity and traditional culture" is often characterised as being opposed to immigration, xenophobic, and uses historically revisionist rhetoric, with party leaders often engaging in discriminatory remarks towards foreigners and sexual minorities, as well as denying Japanese war crimes committed prior to and during the Second World War, such as the Nanjing Massacre.
Shimane 1st district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan.
The 2021 Japanese general election in Shikoku were held on October 31, 2021, to elect the 17 Japanese representatives, one from each of 11 Electoral districts and 6 proportional seats.
Megumi Hirose is a Japanese politician and lawyer who has served in the House of Councillors for Iwate Prefecture since 2022. She is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. She is the first LDP member to represent Iwate as a councilor since Motoo Shiina left the party in 1993.
The Act on Promotion of Public Understanding of Diversity of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (性的指向及びジェンダーアイデンティティの多様性に関する国民の理解の増進に関する法律), commonly referred to as the LGBT Understanding Promotion Act (LGBT理解増進法) is a Japanese law that establishes basic principles regarding the promotion of measures to broaden understanding of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and other sexual minorities in Japan. The legislation obligates the Japanese government to draw up a basic implementation plan to promote understanding of LGBT people, and to protect them from "unfair discrimination." It also stipulates that government entities, businesses, and schools "need to strive" to take similar action.
Natsumi Sakai is a Japanese politician who currently serves as a member of the House of Representatives for Tokyo-15. She previously served in the Kōtō Ward Assembly, and ran for mayor of Kōtō in 2023 with backing from a majority of the opposition.
