View source for Elections in Japan

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2012}}
{{Politics of Japan}}
The [[Politics of Japan|Japanese political]] process has '''two types of elections'''.
* {{Nihongo|[[National Diet|National]] elections|国政選挙|kokusei senkyo}}
* {{Nihongo|Subnational/local elections|地方選挙|chihō senkyo}}

While the national level features a parliamentary system of government where the head of government is elected indirectly by the legislature, prefectures and municipalities employ a presidential system where chief executives and legislative assemblies are directly elected, independently from each other. Many of the prefectural and municipal elections are held together in {{Nihongo|unified local elections|統一地方選挙|Tōitsu chihō senkyo}} since 1947, held in years before leap years;<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=総務省{{pipe}}選挙の種類|url=https://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/senkyo_s/naruhodo/naruhodo03.html|access-date=2021-08-09|website=総務省|language=ja}}</ref> but since each election cycle of every chief executive or assembly of any prefecture or municipality is independent and not reset after resignations/deaths/recalls/no-confidence votes/dissolutions/municipal mergers, there are also many non-unified local elections today. Prefectural and municipal assemblies are unicameral, the National Diet is bicameral, with the two houses on independent election cycles.

==Latest election==
{{#section:2024 Japanese general election|Results}}

==Result in history==
===1946 Japanese general election===
{{Election results
|image=[[File:Japan House of Representatives 1946 2.svg]]
|party1=[[Liberal Party (Japan, 1945)|Liberal Party]]|votes1=13505746|seats1=141
|party2=[[Japan Progressive Party]]|votes2=10350530|seats2=94
|party3=[[Japan Socialist Party]]|votes3=9924930|seats3=93
|party4=[[Japanese Communist Party]]|votes4=2135757|seats4=5
|party5=[[Japan Cooperative Party (1945–46)|Japan Cooperative Party]]|votes5=1799764|seats5=14
|party6=Other|votes6=6488032|seats6=38
|party7=Independents|votes7=11244120|seats7=81
|row8=Vacant|seats8=2
|valid=26100175
|invalid=482000
|electorate=36878417
}}
===2009 Japanese general election===
{{Election results
|image=[[File:Japanese House of Representatives after 2009 general election.svg]]
|firstround=Proportional|secondround=Constituency
|party1=[[Democratic Party of Japan]]|votes1=29844799|seats1=87|votes1_2=33475335|seats1_2=221|totseats1=308|sc1=+195
|party2=[[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]]|votes2=18810217|seats2=55|votes2_2=27301982|seats2_2=64|totseats2=119|sc2=–177
|party3=[[Komeito|New Komeito Party]]|votes3=8054007|seats3=21|votes3_2=782984|seats3_2=0|totseats3=21|sc3=–10
|party4=[[Japanese Communist Party]]|votes4=4943886|seats4=9|votes4_2=2978354|seats4_2=0|totseats4=9|sc4=0
|party5=[[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|Social Democratic Party]]|votes5=3006160|seats5=4|votes5_2=1376739|seats5_2=3|totseats5=7|sc5=0
|party6=[[Your Party (Japan)|Your Party]]|votes6=3005199|seats6=3|votes6_2=615244|seats6_2=2|totseats6=5|sc6=New
|party7=[[People's New Party]]|votes7=1219767|seats7=0|votes7_2=730570|seats7_2=3|totseats7=3|sc7=–1
|party8=[[New Party Nippon]]|votes8=528171|seats8=0|votes8_2=220223|seats8_2=1|totseats8=1|sc8=0
|party9=[[Happiness Realization Party]]|votes9=459387|seats9=0|votes9_2=1071958|seats9_2=0|totseats9=0|sc9=New
|party10=[[New Party Daichi]]|votes10=433122|seats10=1|totseats10=1|sc10=0
|party11=[[New Renaissance Party|Reform Club]]|votes11=58141|seats11=0|votes11_2=36650|seats11_2=0|totseats11=0|sc11=New
|party12=Essential Party|votes12=7399|seats12=0|totseats12=0|sc12=New
|party13=Freeway Club Party|votes13_2=2360|seats13_2=0|totseats13=0|sc13=New
|party14=Forest Sea Party|votes14_2=1520|seats14_2=0|totseats14=0|sc14=New
|party15=Smile Japan Party|votes15_2=987|seats15_2=0|totseats15=0|sc15=New
|party16=[[World Economic Community Party]]|votes16_2=718|seats16_2=0|totseats16=0|sc16=New
|party17=Independents|votes17_2=1986056|seats17_2=6|totseats17=6|sc17=–12
|total_sc=0
|invalid=1628866|invalid2=1435587
|electorate=104057361|electorate2=104057361
}}
===2012 Japanese general election===
{{Election results
|image=[[File:46th House of Representatives of Japan seat composition.svg]]
|firstround=Proportional|secondround=Constituency
|party1=[[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]]|votes1=16624457|seats1=57|votes1_2=25643309|seats1_2=237|totseats1=294|sc1=+175
|party2=[[Japan Restoration Party]]|votes2=12262228|seats2=40|votes2_2=6942354|seats2_2=14|totseats2=54|sc2=New
|party3=[[Democratic Party of Japan]]|votes3=9628653|seats3=30|votes3_2=13598774|seats3_2=27|totseats3=57|sc3=–251
|party4=[[Komeito|New Komeito Party]]|votes4=7116474|seats4=22|votes4_2=885881|seats4_2=9|totseats4=31|sc4=+10
|party5=[[Your Party (Japan)|Your Party]]|votes5=5245586|seats5=14|votes5_2=2807245|seats5_2=4|totseats5=18|sc5=+13
|party6=[[Japanese Communist Party]]|votes6=3689159|seats6=8|votes6_2=4700290|seats6_2=0|totseats6=8|sc6=–1
|party7=[[Tomorrow Party of Japan]]|votes7=3423915|seats7=7|votes7_2=2992366|seats7_2=2|totseats7=9|sc7=New
|party8=[[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|Social Democratic Party]]|votes8=1420790|seats8=1|votes8_2=451762|seats8_2=1|totseats8=2|sc8=–5
|party9=[[New Party Daichi]]|votes9=346848|seats9=1|votes9_2=315604|seats9_2=0|totseats9=1|sc9=0
|party10=[[Happiness Realization Party]]|votes10=216150|seats10=0|votes10_2=65983|seats10_2=0|totseats10=0|sc10=0
|party11=[[New Renaissance Party]]|votes11=134781|seats11=0|totseats11=0|sc11=0
|party12=[[People's New Party]]|votes12=70847|seats12=0|votes12_2=117185|seats12_2=1|totseats12=1|sc12=–2
|party13=[[New Party Nippon]]|votes13_2=62697|seats13_2=0|totseats13=0|sc13=–1
|party14=21st Century Japan Restoration Party|votes14_2=17711|seats14_2=0|totseats14=0|sc14=New
|party15=Natural Party|votes15_2=7831|seats15_2=0|totseats15=0|sc15=New
|party16=Ainu Party|votes16_2=7495|seats16_2=0|totseats16=0|sc16=New
|party17=Euthanasia Party|votes17_2=2603|seats17_2=0|totseats17=0|sc17=New
|party19=[[World Economic Community Party]]|votes19_2=1011|seats19_2=0|totseats19=0|sc19=0
|party20=Independents|votes20_2=1006468|seats20_2=5|totseats20=5|sc20=–1
|total_sc=0
|valid=60179888|valid2=59626569
|invalid=1480081|invalid2=2040970
|electorate=103959866|electorate2=103959866
}}

== History ==
{{Expand section|date=February 2025}}

== Rules and regulations, supervision ==
Both national & local elections are regulated by the {{Nihongo|Public Offices Election Law|公職選挙法|kōshoku-senkyo-hō}} of 1950.

Elections are supervised by Election Administration Commissions at each administrative level under the general direction of the Central Election Management Council, an [[extraordinary organ (Japan)|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 20 to 18 years in June 2016.<ref>{{cite web|title=Diet enacts law lowering voting age to 18 from 20|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/17/national/politics-diplomacy/diet-enacts-law-lowering-voting-age-18-20/|publisher=[[The Japan Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Public Offices Election Act amended to reduce the voting age to 18 {{!}} Liberal Democratic Party of Japan|url=https://www.jimin.jp/english/news/128184.html|access-date=2021-08-09|website=www.jimin.jp}}</ref> Voters must satisfy a three-month residency requirement before being allowed to cast a ballot.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Japan:Public Offices Election Act (2016) —|url=https://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/asia/JP/japan-public-offices-election-act-2016-1/view|access-date=2021-08-09|website=aceproject.org}}</ref>

For those seeking offices, there are two sets of age requirements: twenty-five years of age for admission to the House of Representatives and most local offices, and thirty years of age for admission to the House of Councillors and the [[Governor (Japan)|prefectural governorship]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Japan:Public Offices Election Act (2016) —|url=https://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/asia/JP/japan-public-offices-election-act-2016-1/view|access-date=2021-08-09|website=aceproject.org}}</ref> Each deposit for candidacy for national election is 3 million yen (about 27 thousand dollars) for a single-seat constituency and 6 million yen (about 54 thousand dollars) for proportional representation.

==National elections==
National elections include:
* {{Nihongo|General elections of members of the [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]]|衆議院議員総選挙|Shūgi-in giin sō-senkyo}}, held every four years unless the lower house is dissolved earlier to elect all members of the House of Representatives at once.
* {{Nihongo|Regular/Ordinary elections of members of the [[House of Councillors (Japan)|House of Councillors]]|参議院議員通常選挙|Sangi-in giin tsūjō-senkyo}}, held every three years in [[staggered elections]] to six-year terms with half of the membership up in each class.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Government of Modern Japan: Elections {{!}} Asia for Educators {{!}} Columbia University|url=http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/japan_1900_elections.htm|access-date=2021-08-09|website=afe.easia.columbia.edu}}</ref>
* {{Nihongo|By-elections of members of the House of Representatives/House of Councillors|衆議院/参議院議員補欠選挙|Shūgiin/Sangiin giin hoketsu-senkyo}} to fill vacant majoritarian seats
* {{Nihongo|Repeat elections of members of the House of Representatives/House of Councillors|衆議院/参議院議員再選挙|Shūgiin/Sangiin giin sai-senkyo}} after an election has been invalidated, e.g. by a winner missing the legal vote quorum or after election law violations

Japan's [[Postwar Japan|post-WWII]] national legislature, the {{Nihongo|[[National Diet]]|国会|Kokkai}}, has two directly elected [[bicameralism|chambers]], elected on independent electoral cycles:

=== House of Representatives ===
The {{Nihongo|[[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]]|衆議院|Shūgi-in}} has 465 members, elected for a rarely completed four-year term, 289 members in single-seat [[constituency|constituencies]] and 176 members by [[proportional representation]] in 11 regional "block" constituencies.<ref name=":0" />

[[House of Representatives (Japan)#List of House of Representatives general elections|General elections of members of the House of Representatives]] are usually held before the end of a four-year term as the chamber may be dissolved by the [[Cabinet of Japan|cabinet]] via the [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]]. Most [[Prime Minister of Japan|prime ministers]] use that option. The only exception in post-war history was the "[[Lockheed Election]]" of 1976 in which the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] lost its seat majority for the first time.

The single-seat constituencies are decided by [[Plurality electoral system|plurality]], and the proportional seats are handed out in each "block" constituency to party lists proportionally (by the [[D'Hondt method]]) to their share of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web|title=公職選挙法 {{!}} e-Gov法令検索|url=https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/document?lawid=325AC1000000100|access-date=2021-08-09|website=elaws.e-gov.go.jp}}</ref> Each voter votes twice, once for a candidate in the local constituency, and once for a [[List of political parties in Japan|party]] in the regional "block" constituency. In a [[parallel voting|parallel system]], there is no link between votes in one tier and seat numbers in the other; but so-called {{Nihongo|dual candidacies|重複立候補|chōfuku rikkōho}} of one candidate in both tiers simultaneously are allowed. If such dual candidates lose in the majoritarian tier, they still have a chance to be elected in the proportional block. Parties may also place dual district and block candidates on the same list rank; in that case, the {{Nihongo3|ratio of margin of defeat|惜敗率|[[Sekihairitsu]]}} system determines the order of candidates.

=== House of Councillors ===
The {{Nihongo|[[House of Councillors (Japan)|House of Councillors]]|参議院|Sangi-in}} has 245 members (248 from 2022),<ref>{{Cite news|title=Diet passes controversial bill adding seats to Japan's Upper House for first time in nearly half a century|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/07/18/national/politics-diplomacy/diet-passes-controversial-bill-adding-seats-japans-upper-house-first-time-nearly-half-century/#.XMRtHJNKjMI|newspaper=The Japan Times|date=18 July 2018|access-date=27 April 2019}}</ref> elected for a fixed six-year term, 147 (2022–: 148) members by [[single non-transferable vote]] (SNTV) in 45 single- and multi-seat constituencies (most are prefectures, two combined constituencies comprise two neighbouring prefectures each) and 98 (2022–: 100) by [[proportional representation]] (by D'Hondt method) with optionally open lists in a [[Japanese House of Councillors national proportional representation block|single, nationwide constituency]].

[[House of Councillors#List of House of Councillors regular elections|Regular/Ordinary elections of members of the House of Councillors]] are held once every three years. In [[staggered elections]], half of the House of Councillors comes up for election every three years in elections. The term is fixed, the House of Councillors cannot be dissolved. This, too, is a parallel electoral system. Dual candidacies are not allowed. As in House of Representatives elections, voters have two votes: In the majoritarian election, the vote has to be for a candidate, but in the proportional election, the vote may be for either a party list or a single candidate; in the latter case, the vote counts as both a vote for the party list (to determine proportional seat distribution), and as a preference vote within that list (to determine the order or proportional candidates within that list). The [[district magnitude]]s in the majoritarian tier vary between one and six, dependent on, but not fully proportional to the population of each prefecture. In single-member constituencies, SNTV becomes equivalent to [[first-past-the-post]], whereas seats are usually split between different parties/alliances in multi-member constituencies (and in the proportional constituency by definition). Therefore, the {{Nihongo|single-member constituencies of the House of Councillors|[[:ja:参議院一人区|参議院一人区]]|Sangiin ichinin-ku}} are more likely to swing the election result and often receive more media and campaign attention. The proportional election to the House of Councillors allows the voters to cast a preference vote for a single candidate on a party list. The preference votes strictly determined the ranking of candidates on party lists before 2019. Since the 2019 election, parties are allowed to prioritize individual candidates on their proportional list over voter preferences in a {{Nihongo|"special frame"|特定枠|tokutei-waku}}. In the 2019 election, almost all parties continued to use completely open lists; exceptions were the LDP which used the "special frame" to give secure list spots to two LDP prefectural federations affected by the introduction of combined constituencies in 2016, [[Reiwa Shinsengumi]] which used it to give secure list spots to two candidates with severe disabilities, and the minor "Labourers' Party for the liberation of labour".<ref>Jiji Press, 4 July 2019: [https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2019070401075&g=pol 特定枠、れいわ・労働も利用【19参院選】]{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, retrieved 18 September 2019.</ref><ref>Mainichi Shimbun, 5 July 2019: [https://mainichi.jp/senkyo/articles/20190705/ddm/005/010/054000c 2019参院選 公示 特定枠に5候補者 比例に導入、優先的に当選] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191208060011/https://mainichi.jp/senkyo/articles/20190705/ddm/005/010/054000c |date=8 December 2019 }}, retrieved 18 September 2019.</ref>
[[File:Election in Japan2014 (2).JPG|thumb|Voting in [[Higashiōsaka]], [[Osaka Prefecture]], Japan, 2014]]

=== Double elections ===
The electoral cycles of the two chambers of the Diet are usually not synchronized. When the 1947 constitution came into effect, the [[1947 Japanese House of Councillors election|first House of Councillors election]] was held several days apart from the [[1947 Japanese general election|23rd House of Representatives election]]. Only in 1980 and 1986, general and regular election coincided on the same day because the House of Representatives was dissolved in time for the election to be scheduled together with the House of Councillors election in early summer.

=== By- and repeat elections ===
Vacant district seats in both Houses are generally filled in by-elections. Nowadays, these are usually scheduled in April and October as necessary. Vacant proportional seats in both Houses and district seats in the House of Councillors that fall vacant within three months of a regular election are filled by {{Nihongo3|roughly "being elected as runner-up"|繰り上げ当選|kuriage-tōsen}}: the highest ranking candidate on a proportional list or in the electoral district who was not elected and is not disqualified takes the seat. Disqualifications may, for example, happen if a candidate for the House of Councillors runs for the House of Representatives or vice versa, or after a violation of campaign laws.

===Election of the Prime Minister===
Between 1885 and 1947 in the [[Empire of Japan]], the prime minister was not elected by the legislature, but responsible to, chosen and appointed by the Emperor. In practice, the {{Nihongo||元老|[[Genrō]]}} usually nominated a candidate for appointment. The {{Nihongo|Imperial Diet|帝国議会|Teikoku-gikai}} and its elected lower house, the House of Representatives, which were set up in 1890 according to the Imperial Constitution, had no constitutionally guaranteed role in the formation of cabinets.<ref>{{Cite AV media |title=The Ally From The Far East - Japan in World War 1 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG_SzUVNo8I |access-date=22 October 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Chapter 2: Past Prime Ministers |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/jikihitsu/e/part2/s2_1.html |access-date=2025-10-23 |website=National Diet Library}}</ref>

Since 1947, the [[Prime Minister of Japan|Prime Minister]] has been chosen in the {{Nihongo|"designation election of the [[Prime Minister of Japan|prime minister]]"|内閣総理大臣指名選挙|Naikaku sōridaijin shimei senkyo}} <small>[[:ja:内閣総理大臣指名選挙|(ja)]]</small> in the [[National Diet]]. It is held after a cabinet has submitted its resignation – the outgoing cabinet remains as caretaker cabinet until the Imperial inauguration ceremony of a new prime minister –; a cabinet must resign en masse under the constitution (Articles 69 and 70) 1. always on convocation of the first Diet after a general election of the House of Representatives, 2. if the post of prime minister has fallen vacant – that includes cases when the prime minister is permanently incapacitated, e.g. by illness, kidnapping or defection –, or 3. if a no-confidence vote in the House of Representatives is not answered by the dissolution of the chamber. Though both Houses of the Diet vote in two-round elections to select a prime minister, the House of Representatives has the decisive vote: If the two Houses vote for different candidates (as they did in 1948, 1989, 1998, 2007 and 2008), a procedure in the {{Nihongo|joint committee of both houses|両院協議会|Ryōin Kyōgikai}} may reach a consensus; but eventually the candidate of the House of Representatives becomes that of the whole Diet and thereby prime minister-designate. The designated prime minister must still be ceremonially appointed by the [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]] in the {{Nihongo|[[Imperial Investiture]]|親任式|Shinnin-shiki}} to enter office; but unlike some heads of state, the Emperor has no [[reserve power]] to appoint anyone other than the person elected by the Diet.

In 2001, LDP president and Prime Minister [[Junichirō Koizumi]] instituted an advisory council to investigate the possibility of introducing direct popular election of the prime minister in a constitutional revision.<ref>Kantei: [http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/policy/kousen/index_e.html Advisory Council to Consider the Direct Election of the Prime Minister]</ref>

==Latest results==
=== October 2024 House of Representatives general and House of Councillors by-election ===
{{Main|2024 Japanese general election|2024 Japanese by-elections}}
In the wake of the fundraising party kickback scandal, the ruling coalition faced polls predicting a loss of its majority. But the opposition had not come up with a unified nomination strategy after most parties had changed leadership in 2024 and the Communist-non-Communist united front had ended: The main opposition CDP comprehensively cooperated with neither the left (JCP, Reiwa Shinsengumi) nor the centre-right (DPFP, Ishin), so a number of districts were contested by several competing opposition parties against the ruling camp (CDP-Ishin 115, CDP-JCP 142, CDP-DPFP 13),<ref>[[NHK]] News October 15, 2024: [https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20241015/k10014609431000.html 衆議院選挙公示 小選挙区・比例 計1344人が立候補 27日投開票], retrieved January 21, 2025.</ref> while others only saw LDP-JCP contests among the established parties. In the result, the LDP-Kōmeitō coalition, while losing its majority, maintained a plurality strong enough to continue as a minority government, with DPFP and Ishin willing to cooperate in legislation on a case-by-case basis. Among the far-left parties, ReiShin overtook the JCP, and two far-right parties, Sanseitō and the Conservative Party of Japan managed to enter the House of Representatives.

Summary of results:<ref>MIC: [https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000975594.pdf 令和6年10月27日執行 衆議院議員総選挙・最高裁判所裁判官国民審査結果調], retrieved January 21, 2025.</ref>
* Proportional tier (11 constituencies, 176 seats), turnout 53.83%
** [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|LDP]] 285 candidates (including 209 dual candidates), 26.7% of votes, 58→59 seats (34% of seats)
** [[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan|CDP]] 234 candidates (204 dual), 21.2%, 43→44 seats (25%)
** [[Democratic Party for the People|DPFP]] 42 candidates (41 dual), 11.3%, 20→17 seats (10%) – The party would have received 20 seats according to the vote result, but had not enough candidates left in two blocs after the removal of disqualified or victorious dual candidates, so the seats were redistributed to the next parties who would have received seats under the proportional D'Hondt distribution.
** [[Komeito]] 39 candidates (0 dual), 10.9%, 19→20 seats (11%)
** [[Nippon Ishin no Kai|Ishin]] 146 candidates (145 dual), 9.4%, 15 seats (9%)
** [[Reiwa Shinsengumi]] 32 candidates (16 dual), 7.0%, 9 seats (5%)
** [[Japanese Communist Party|JCP]] 35 candidates (12 dual), 6.2%, 7 seats (4%)
** [[Sanseitō]] 22 candidates (12 dual), 3.4%, 3 seats (2%)
** [[Conservative Party of Japan]] 26 candidates (dual candidacy n/a, requires legal party status before the election), 2,1%, 2 seats (1%) and legal party status
** [[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|SDP]] 17 candidates (10 dual), 1.7%, no seats
** Other parties (aggregate) 3 candidates (1 [[NHK Party]] dual candidate), 0.1%, no seats
* Majoritarian tier (289 constituencies, 289 seats), turnout 53.84%
** Governing parties (LDP+Komeito, cross-endorsed practically countrywide): 277 candidates, 39.9% of votes, 136 seats (47% of seats)
** CDP 207 candidates, 29.0%, 104 seats (36%)
** Ishin 163 candidates, 11.2%, 23 seats (8%)
** DPFP 41 candidates, 4.3%, 11 seats (4%)
** JCP 213 candidates, 6.8%, 1 seat (0%)
** SDP 10 candidates, 0.5%, 1 seat (0%)
** Conservative 4 candidates 0.3%, 1 seat (0%)
** Sanseitō 85 candidates, 2.5%, no seat
** Reiwa Shinsengumi 19 candidates, 0.8%, no seat
** Independents: 81 candidates (some of them party-endorsed or scandal-tainted LDP members whose national party nomination had been withdrawn) 4.7%, 12 seats (4%)
** Others (aggregate) 13 candidates, 0.1%, no seats

The House of Councillors by-election in Iwate after the scandal-related resignation of [[Megumi Hirose]] (independent, ex-LDP) who had been the first LDP candidate to win Iwate since 1992 was overwhelmingly won by centre-left ex-incumbent [[Eiji Kidoguchi]] (CDP) with 65.9% of the vote.

=== April 2024 House of Representatives by-elections ===
{{Main|2024 Japanese by-elections}}
On 28 April 2024, three by-elections were held: in Tokyo 15, Shimane 1 and Nagasaki 3. The CDP carried all three; amid extremely low approval ratings in the wake of the party kickback slush fund scandal, the LDP didn't contest Tokyo and Nagasaki (In Tokyo, [[Hirotada Ototake]] was supposed to be the LDP/[[Yuriko Koike]] affiliated candidate, but the LDP refused to endorse him), but also lost its previously unbroken "conservative kingdom" in Shimane.<ref>[[NHK]] News, 28 April 2024: [衆議院補欠選挙 立民 3選挙区すべて勝利 自民は議席失う], retrieved April 28, 2024.</ref><ref>[[NHK]] Senkyo Web election archive: H.R. by-elections [https://www3.nhk.or.jp/senkyo2/nagasaki/20506/skh54851.html Nagasaki 3], [https://www3.nhk.or.jp/senkyo2/matsue/20312/skh54640.html Shimane 1] and [https://www3.nhk.or.jp/senkyo2/shutoken/20507/skh54852.html Tokyo 15], retrieved April 28, 2024.</ref>

=== October 2023 by-elections to both houses ===
{{Main|2023 Japanese by-elections}}
In October 2023, two national by-elections were held on the same day as the prefectural assembly election in Miyagi. In Nagasaki's 4th House of Representatives district where [[Seigo Kitamura]] (LDP) had died in May, [[Yozo Kaneko (politician)|Yōzō Kaneko]] (LDP – Kōmeitō), the son of former Nagasaki governor and senator [[Genjirō Kaneko]], held the seat for the ruling coalition by 7 points over centre-left opposition candidate [[Seiichi Suetsugu]] (CDP – SDP). The Tokushima-Kōchi senate seat had fallen vacant when [[Kōjirō Takano]] (LDP) had resigned after assaulting his secretary; the seat went to opposition-supported former Kōchi 2 House of Representatives member [[Hajime Hirota]] (I) who beat ruling coalition candidate Ken Nishiuchi (LDP – Kōmeitō) by more than 24 points.<ref>[[NHK]] Senkyo Web election archive: by-elections [https://www.nhk.or.jp/senkyo/database/local/nagasaki/20177/skh54506.html H.R. Nagasaki 4] and [https://www.nhk.or.jp/senkyo/database/local/tokushima/20086/skh54397.html H.C. Tokushima-Kōchi], retrieved January 30, 2024.</ref>

=== April 2023 by-elections to both houses ===
{{Main|2023 Japanese by-elections}}
Together with the second stage of the unified local elections, five national by-elections were held. The ruling coalition carried four, Nippon Ishin expanded beyond its Osaka base with an FPTP victory in Wakayama, the center-left opposition won none. The House of Councillors by-election in Ōita, the most clear-cut one-on-one government/opposition contest of the evening, was decided in favour of government candidate [[Aki Shirasaka]] (LDP – Kōmeitō) by less than 400 votes over [[Tadatomo Yoshida]] (CDP – JCP, SDP).

===2022 House of Councillors regular election===
{{Main|2022 Japanese House of Councillors election}}
Results<ref>Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications: [https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000825110.pdf Complete results of the 26th regular election] {{in lang|ja}}, retrieved 19 May 2023.</ref> summary:
* Proportional tier (1 nationwide constituency, 50 seats), turnout 52.04%
** [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|LDP]] 33 candidates, 34.4% of votes, 18 seats (36% of seats)
** [[Nippon Ishin no Kai|Ishin]] 26 candidates, 14.8%, 8 seats (16%)
** [[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan|CDP]] 20 candidates, 12.8%, 7 seats (14%)
** [[Komeito]] 17 candidates, 11.7%, 6 seats (12%)
** [[Japanese Communist Party|JCP]] 25 candidates, 6.8%, 3 seats (6%)
** [[Democratic Party for the People|DPFP]] 9 candidates, 6.0%, 3 seats (6%)
** [[Reiwa Shinsengumi]] 9 candidates, 4.4%, 2 seats (4%)
** [[Sanseitō]] 5 candidates, 3.3%, 1 seat (2%) and legal status as national-level political party
** [[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|SDP]] 8 candidates, 2.4%, 1 seat (2%) and defended legal party status
** [[NHK Party]] 9 candidates, 2.4%, 1 seat (2%) and defended legal party status
** 5 other parties (aggregate) 17 candidates, 1.1%, no seats
* Majoritarian tier (45 constituencies, 74 seats+1 integrated by-election to the other class), turnout 52.05%
** Governing parties (LDP+Komeito): 56 candidates, 45.5% of votes, 52 seats (69.3% of seats)
** CDP 31 candidates, 15.3%, 10 seats (13.3%)
** Ishin 20 candidates, 10.4%, 4 seats (5.3%)
** DPFP (cooperating with the CDP in some districts, competing in others) 13 candidates, 3.8%, 2 seats (2.6%)
** JCP (cooperating with the CDP in few districts, competing in most) 33 candidates, 6.8%, 1 seat (1.3%)
** Reiwa Shinsengumi 5 candidates, 1.9%, 1 seat (1.3%)
** Independents: 35 candidates (some of them party-endorsed) 8.1%, 5 seats (6.7%, four of them opposition-endorsed)
** Others (aggregate) 174 candidates, 8.2%, no seats

=== 2022 House of Councillors by-election ===
The April 24 by-election in Ishikawa to the 2019–25 class of the House of Councillors was safely won by government candidate [[Shūji Miyamoto]] (LDP-Komeito, 68.4%) against Tsuneko Oyamada (CDP-SDP, 21.6%) and candidates from JCP and NHK party. The seat had been vacated in December 2021 by [[Shūji Yamada]] (LDP) for his (unsuccessful) candidacy in the [[2022 Ishikawa gubernatorial election|gubernatorial election in March]].

== List of national elections ==
{{Main|House of Representatives (Japan)#List of House of Representatives general elections|House of Councillors#List of House of Councillors regular elections}}

==Malapportionment==
In the 1980s, apportionment of electoral districts still reflected the distribution of the population in the years following [[World War II]], when only one-third of the people lived in urban areas and two thirds lived in rural areas. In the next forty-five years, the population became more than three-quarters urban, as people deserted rural communities to seek economic opportunities in [[Tokyo]] and other large cities. The lack of reapportionment led to a serious underrepresentation of urban voters. Urban districts in the House of Representatives were increased by five in 1964, bringing nineteen new representatives to the lower house; in 1975 six more urban districts were established, with a total of twenty new representatives allocated to them and to other urban districts. Yet great inequities remained between urban and rural voters.

In the early 1980s, as many as five times the votes were needed to elect a representative from an urban district compared with those needed for a rural district. Similar disparities existed in the prefectural constituencies of the House of Councillors. The [[Supreme Court of Japan|Supreme Court]] had ruled on several occasions that the imbalance violated the constitutional principle of one person-one vote. The Supreme Court mandated the addition of eight representatives to urban districts and the removal of seven from rural districts in 1986. Several lower house districts' boundaries were redrawn. Yet the disparity was still as much as three urban votes to one rural vote.

After the 1986 change, the average number of persons per lower house representative was 236,424. However, the figure varied from 427,761 persons per representative in the fourth district of [[Kanagawa Prefecture]], which contains the large city of Yokohama, to 142,932 persons in the third district of largely rural and mountainous [[Nagano Prefecture]].

The 1993 reform government under [[Hosokawa Morihiro]] introduce a new electoral system whereby 200 members (reduced to 180 beginning with the 2000 election) are elected by proportional representation in multi-member districts or "blocs" while 300 are elected from single-candidate districts.<ref>Batto, NF., Huang, C., Tan, AC. and Cox, G. (Ed.) (2016) Batto, NF., Huang, C., Tan, AC. and Cox, G. (Ed.) (2016) ''Mixed-Member Electoral Systems in Constitutional Context: Taiwan, Japan and Beyond''. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.</ref>

Still, according to the 6 October 2006 issue of the Japanese newspaper ''[[Yomiuri Shimbun|Daily Yomiuri]]'', "the Supreme Court followed legal precedent in ruling Wednesday that the House of Councillors election in 2004 was held in a constitutionally sound way despite a 5.13-fold disparity in the weight of votes between the nation's most densely and most sparsely populated electoral districts".{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}}

The 2009 general House of Representatives election was the first unconstitutional lower house election since the introducion of the new electoral system in 1994 (parallel voting and "small" FPTP single-member electoral districts/"[[Kakumander]]"). In March 2011, the Grand Bench (''daihōtei'') of the Supreme Court ruled that the maximum discrepancy of 2.30 in voting weight between the [[Kochi 3rd district|Kōchi 3]] and [[Chiba 4th district|Chiba 4]] constituencies in the 2009 election was in violation of the constitutionally guaranteed equality of all voters. As in previous such rulings on unconstitutional elections (1972, 1980, 1983 and 1990 Representatives elections, 1992 Councillors election), the election is not invalidated, but the imbalance has to be corrected by the Diet through redistricting and/or reapportionment of seats between prefectures.<ref>Jiji Tsūshin, 23 March 2011: [http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=201103/2011032300649 09年衆院選は違憲状態=1人別枠方式「平等に反する」－廃止要請・最高裁大法廷]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In 2016, a panel of experts proposed to introduce the [John Quincy] [[Highest averages method#Adams' method|Adams apportionment method]] (method of smallest divisors) for apportioning House of Representatives seats to prefectures. The reform is planned to be implemented after the 2020 census figures are available and not expected to take effect before 2022.<ref>[[Nihon Keizai Shimbun|nikkei.com]], 15 March 2017: [http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZZO97932170S6A300C1000000/ 衆院定数10減決まる 選挙制度改革まとめ]</ref> In the meantime, another redistricting and apportionment passed in 2017 is designed to keep the maximum malapportionment ratio in the House of Representatives below 2. In the FPTP tier, it changes 97 districts and cuts six without adding any; in the proportional tier, four "blocks" lose a seat each; the total number of seats in the lower house is cut to 465, 289 majoritarian seats and 176 proportional seats.<ref>Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications: [http://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/senkyo_s/news/senkyo/shu_kuwari/shu_kuwari_3.html 衆議院小選挙区の区割りの改定等について] ("On the changes to House of Representatives single-member districts" [but covers the changes to proportional districts, too]) {{in lang|ja}}</ref>

The malapportionment in the 2010<ref>''[[Asahi Shimbun]]'', Asia & Japan Watch, 18 October 2012: [http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201210180077 Japan's 2 Diet chambers both ruled all but 'unconstitutional'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022021914/http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201210180077 |date=22 October 2012 }}</ref> and 2013<ref>The Japan Times, 26 November 2014: [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/11/26/national/crime-legal/supreme-court-assails-vote-disparity-2013-election-doesnt-nullify-results/ Supreme Court assails vote disparity in 2013 election but doesn't nullify results]</ref> regular House of Councillors elections was ruled unconstitutional (or "in an unconstitutional state") by the Supreme Court, and has been reduced by a 2015 reapportionment below 3 (at least in government statistics from census data which is regular and standardized but lags behind resident registration statistics and the actual number of eligible voters; using the latter, the maximum malapportionment in the 2016 election remained slightly above 3<ref>Mainichi Shimbun, 12 July 2016: [https://mainichi.jp/senkyo/articles/20160712/ddm/041/010/233000c 2016参院選:「1票の格差」一斉提訴 最大3．08倍、無効訴え 14高裁・支部]{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, 27 December 2019: [http://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000456489.pdf Voter statistics as of September 2, 2016] [covers districts of both houses of the National Diet], p.16 {{in lang|ja}}</ref>).

{| class="wikitable"
|+Electoral districts with the highest and lowest voting weight for the National Diet as of 2016<ref>Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, 27 December 2016: [http://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000456489.pdf Voter statistics as of September 2, 2016], p. 8 {{in lang|ja}}</ref>
|-
! colspan="5" | [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]]
! colspan="5" | [[House of Councillors (Japan)|House of Councillors]]
|-
!
! colspan="2" | Lowest vote weight
! colspan="2" | Highest vote weight
! colspan="2" | Lowest vote weight
! colspan="2" | Highest vote weight
!
|-
! #
! District !! Registered voters
! District !! Registered voters
! District !! Registered voters<br />per member elected
! District !! Registered voters<br />per member elected
! #
|-
| 1
| [[Tokyo 1st district|Tokyo 1]] || align="right" | 514,974
| [[Fukushima 4th district|Fukushima 4]] || align="right" | 233,491
| [[Saitama at-large district|Saitama]] || align="right" | 1,015,543
| [[Fukui at-large district|Fukui]] || align="right" | 328,772
| 1
|-
| 2
| [[Hokkaidō 1st district|Hokkaidō 1]] || align="right" | 505,510
| [[Miyagi 5th district|Miyagi 5]] || align="right" | 234,373
| [[Niigata at-large district|Niigata]] || align="right" | 978,686
| [[Saga at-large district|Saga]] || align="right" | 346,727
| 2
|-
| 3
| [[Tokyo 3rd district|Tokyo 3]] || align="right" | 504,929
| [[Kagoshima 5th district|Kagoshima 5]] || align="right" | 240,056
| [[Miyagi At-large district|Miyagi]] || align="right" | 975,466
| [[Yamanashi at-large district|Yamanashi]] || align="right" | 353,402
| 3
|-
| 4
| [[Tokyo 5th district|Tokyo 5]] || align="right" | 498,903
| [[Tottori 1st district|Tottori 1]] || align="right" | 240,874
| [[Kanagawa at-large district|Kanagawa]] || align="right" | 951,735
| [[Kagawa at-large district|Kagawa]] || align="right" | 417,082
| 4
|-
| 5
| [[Hyōgo 6th district|Hyōgo 6]] || align="right" | 492,173
| [[Nagasaki 3rd district|Nagasaki 3]] || align="right" | 242,165
| [[Tokyo at-large district|Tokyo]] || align="right" | 937,470
| [[Wakayama at-large district|Wakayama]] || align="right" | 419,011
| 5
|-
| 6
| [[Tokyo 6th district|Tokyo 6]] || align="right" | 490,674
| [[Tottori 2nd district|Tottori 2]] || align="right" | 242,194
| [[Osaka at-large district|Osaka]] || align="right" | 915,000
| [[Akita at-large district|Akita]] || align="right" | 448,236
| 6
|-
| 7
| [[Tokyo 19th district|Tokyo 19]] || align="right" | 488,494
| [[Nagasaki 4th district|Nagasaki 4]] || align="right" | 242,303
| [[Nagano at-large district|Nagano]] || align="right" | 885,638
| [[Toyama at-large district|Toyama]] || align="right" | 452,822
| 7
|-
| 8
| [[Tokyo 22nd district|Tokyo 22]] || align="right" | 486,965
| [[Aomori 3rd district|Aomori 3]] || align="right" | 244,007
| [[Chiba At-large district|Chiba]] || align="right" | 871,110
| [[Miyazaki at-large district|Miyazaki]] || align="right" | 466,829
| 8
|-
| 9
| [[Saitama 3rd district|Saitama 3]] || align="right" | 483,014
| [[Mie 4th district|Mie 4]] || align="right" | 244,825
| [[Gifu at-large district|Gifu]] || align="right" | 850,190
| [[Yamagata at-large district|Yamagata]] || align="right" | 475,419
| 9
|-
| 10
| [[Tokyo 23rd district|Tokyo 23]] || align="right" | 481,206
| [[Iwate 3rd district|Iwate 3]] || align="right" | 246,272
| [[Tochigi at-large district|Tochigi]] || align="right" | 827,368
| [[Ishikawa at-large district|Ishikawa]] || align="right" | 481,027
| 10
|}

==Prefectural and local elections==
Local elections include:
* [[Prefectures of Japan|Prefectural]] elections
** {{Nihongo|Prefectural gubernatorial elections|都道府県知事選挙|to/dō/fu/ken-chiji-senkyo}} on an independent four-year cycle
** {{Nihongo|General/by-/repeat elections of members of a prefectural assembly|都道府県議会議員一般/補欠/再選挙|to/dō/fu/ken-gikai giin ippan-/hoketsu-/sai-senkyo}}, general elections are held on an independent four-year cycle
* [[Municipalities of Japan|Municipal]] elections
** {{Nihongo|Municipal mayoral elections|市区町村長選挙|shi/ku/chō/son-chō-senkyo}} on an independent four-year cycle
** {{Nihongo|General/by-/repeat elections of members of a municipal assembly|市区町村議会議員一般/補欠/再選挙|shi/ku/chō/son-gikai giin ippan-/hoketsu-/sai-senkyo}}, general elections are held on an independent four-year cycle

There are 47 prefectures ''(-to/-dō/-fu/-ken)'' of Japan since 1888<!--although Hokkaido & Okinawaken were not yet fully recognized as such until after WWII, and the latter was temporarily part of the US Ryukyu Islands-->, they are contiguously subdivided into 1741 municipalities ''(-shi/-ku/-chō/-son)'' since 2014 (see [[Administrative divisions of Japan]]).

===Unified elections===
'''Unified local elections''' (統一地方選挙 ''tōitsu chihō senkyo'') are held once every four years. Prefectural assemblies and governors, as well as mayors and assemblies in municipalities, are elected for four-year terms. In April 1947, all local elections in the 46 prefectures (excluding [[Okinawa Prefecture]], then under [[United States Forces Japan|US military]] rule) and all their municipalities were held at the same time in "unified local elections". Since then, some gubernatorial and mayoral elections, and most assembly elections, have stayed on this original four-year cycle. Most governors and mayors are now elected on different schedules as the four-year cycle "resets" upon the resignation, death or removal of a sitting governor or mayor. Some assembly election cycles have also shifted due to assembly dissolutions or mergers of municipalities.

The most recent were the [[2023 Japanese unified local elections]].

{{Update section|reason=Please update to the results of the [[2019 Japanese unified local elections]]|date=October 2021}}
As of [[2015 Japanese unified local elections|2015]], the major contests in the unified local elections are as follows:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!Prefecture
!Governor
!Assembly
![[City designated by government ordinance|Designated city]] races
|-
|[[Hokkaido]]
|♦
|♦
|[[Sapporo]] mayor<br />Sapporo assembly
|-
|[[Aomori Prefecture|Aomori]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Akita Prefecture|Akita]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Yamagata Prefecture|Yamagata]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Tochigi Prefecture|Tochigi]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Gunma Prefecture|Gunma]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Saitama Prefecture|Saitama]]
|
|♦
|[[Saitama City|Saitama]] assembly
|-
|[[Chiba Prefecture|Chiba]]
|
|♦
|[[Chiba City|Chiba]] assembly
|-
|[[Kanagawa Prefecture|Kanagawa]]
|♦
|♦
|[[Yokohama]] assembly<br />[[Kawasaki, Kanagawa|Kawasaki]] assembly<br />[[Sagamihara]] mayor<br />Sagamihara assembly
|-
|[[Niigata Prefecture|Niigata]]
|
|♦
|[[Niigata City|Niigata]] assembly
|-
|[[Toyama Prefecture|Toyama]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Ishikawa Prefecture|Ishikawa]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Fukui Prefecture|Fukui]]
|♦
|♦
|
|-
|[[Yamanashi Prefecture|Yamanashi]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Nagano Prefecture|Nagano]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Gifu Prefecture|Gifu]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Shizuoka Prefecture|Shizuoka]]
|
|♦
|[[Shizuoka City|Shizuoka]] mayor<br />[[Hamamatsu]] mayor<br />Hamamatsu assembly
|-
|[[Aichi Prefecture|Aichi]]
|
|♦
|[[Nagoya]] assembly
|-
|[[Mie Prefecture|Mie]]
|♦
|♦
|
|-
|[[Shiga Prefecture|Shiga]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Kyoto Prefecture|Kyoto]]
|
|♦
|[[Kyoto]] assembly
|-
|[[Osaka Prefecture|Osaka]]
|
|♦
|[[Osaka]] assembly<br />[[Sakai, Osaka|Sakai]] assembly
|-
|[[Hyōgo Prefecture|Hyōgo]]
|
|♦
|[[Kobe]] assembly
|-
|[[Nara Prefecture|Nara]]
|♦
|♦
|
|-
|[[Wakayama Prefecture|Wakayama]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Tottori Prefecture|Tottori]]
|♦
|♦
|
|-
|[[Shimane Prefecture|Shimane]]
|♦
|♦
|
|-
|[[Okayama Prefecture|Okayama]]
|
|♦
|[[Okayama]] assembly
|-
|[[Hiroshima Prefecture|Hiroshima]]
|
|♦
|[[Hiroshima]] mayor<br />Hiroshima assembly
|-
|[[Yamaguchi Prefecture|Yamaguchi]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Tokushima Prefecture|Tokushima]]
|♦
|♦
|
|-
|[[Kagawa Prefecture|Kagawa]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Ehime Prefecture|Ehime]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Kōchi Prefecture|Kōchi]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Fukuoka Prefecture|Fukuoka]]
|♦
|♦
|[[Fukuoka]] assembly
|-
|[[Saga Prefecture|Saga]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Nagasaki Prefecture|Nagasaki]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Kumamoto Prefecture|Kumamoto]]
|
|♦
|[[Kumamoto]] assembly
|-
|[[Oita Prefecture|Oita]]
|♦
|♦
|
|-
|[[Miyazaki Prefecture|Miyazaki]]
|
|♦
|
|-
|[[Kagoshima Prefecture|Kagoshima]]
|
|♦
|
|}

Although [[Tokyo]]'s metropolitan governor and assembly elections are currently held on separate schedules, 21 of the 23 [[special wards of Tokyo]] follow the unified election schedule for their assembly elections, the only exceptions being [[Katsushika, Tokyo|Katsushika]] and [[Adachi, Tokyo|Adachi]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2025}} The majority of Tokyo's special wards follow separate cycles for their mayoral elections. Tokyo elected its governor as part of the unified elections until [[2011 Japanese unified local elections|2011]], but was forced to hold a [[2012 Tokyo gubernatorial election|2012 election]] and [[2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election|2014 election]] due to the resignations of [[Shintaro Ishihara]] and [[Naoki Inose]].

[[Iwate Prefecture]], [[Miyagi Prefecture]] and [[Fukushima Prefecture]] are no longer on the unified election cycle due to the [[2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami]], which delayed their elections.

;List of unified local elections
*[[2007 Japanese unified local elections]]
*[[2011 Japanese unified local elections]]
*[[2015 Japanese unified local elections]]
*[[2019 Japanese unified local elections]]

===Other major local election cycles===

* Since 1971, [[Ibaraki Prefecture]] has held its prefectural assembly elections in the December preceding the unified election, making this election a regular leading indicator of the nationwide elections in the following April. The 2014 Ibaraki election was held on the same day as the [[2014 Japanese general election]].
* Approximately 193 new municipalities were created in a wave of "[[Municipal mergers and dissolutions in Japan|Heisei mergers]]" effective in April 2005. Their first municipal elections were held around this time, and coincided with the Chiba and Akita gubernatorial elections and the Nagoya mayoral election, creating a second major local election cycle sometimes referred to as the "mini unified local elections".
* [[Okinawa Prefecture]] and most of its local governments continue to follow a four-year cycle that began following repatriation to Japan in June 1972, with several exceptions (including the city of [[Naha, Okinawa|Naha]]). Okinawa elections generally occur in the year following the unified elections; the next is scheduled for June 2016.

==Ballots, voting machines and early voting==
[[File:Faulty ballot paper of 1952 Japanese general election 07.jpg|thumb|A used Japanese ballot paper from the 1952 House of Representatives election, in this case spoilt by writing {{Nihongo|"There is no suitable person"|該当者なし|Gaitō-sha Nashi}}. The only thing that is literally "on the ballot" in Japan before a voter votes is an empty box titled {{Nihongo|"candidate name"|候補者氏名|Kōho-sha Shimei}} and usually a text next to it with general notes such as "Please don't write anything other than the name of an actual candidate." or "Please don't write outside the box."]]
[[File:Showa0020 naimushorei0031 tohyoyoshikino1 1.png|thumb|A sample ballot paper for a House of Representatives election according to a 1945 Home Ministry ordinance]]

Votes in national and most local elections are cast by writing the candidate's or party's name on a blank ballot paper. In elections for the House of Representatives voters fill in two ballots, one with the name of their preferred district candidate and one with their preferred party in the proportional representation block. For the House of Councillors, the district vote is similar (in [[single non-transferable vote|SNTV]] multi-member districts, several candidates can be elected, but every voter has only one vote). But in the proportional vote for the House of Councillors votes are cast for a party list (to determine how many proportional seats a party receives) or a candidate (which additionally influences which candidates are elected from a party's list).<ref>Kamiya, Setsuko, "[http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121211i1.html Some election campaign rules outdated, quirky]", ''[[Japan Times]]'', 11 December 2012, p. 3</ref>

Ballots that cannot unambiguously be assigned to a candidate are not considered invalid, but are assigned to all potentially intended candidates proportionally to the unambiguous votes each candidate has received. These so-called {{Nihongo|"proportional fractional votes"|按分票|Anbun-hyō}} are rounded to the third decimal.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[Nerima, Tokyo|]] city electoral commission|url=https://www.city.nerima.tokyo.jp/kusei/senkyo/senkyo-faq/hyou.html|language=ja|title=按分票とはなんですか？|access-date=17 May 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=kotobank.jp (Voyage Marketing)|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%A1%88%E5%88%86%E7%A5%A8-188611|language=ja|title=按分票|work=[[Asahi Shimbun]] Chiezō (知恵蔵, [[:ja:知恵蔵|(ja)]])|date=21 July 2019 |access-date=17 May 2021}}</ref> For example, if "Yamada A" and "Yamada B" both stood in an election and there were 1500 unambiguous votes: 1000 for "Yamada A" and 500 for "Yamada B"; five ambiguous votes for "Yamada" would then count for Yamada A as 5×1000/1500=3.333 votes, and for Yamada B as 5×500/1500=1.667 votes. The official overall result would then be: Yamada A 1003.333 votes, Yamada B 501.667 votes.

In 2002, passage of an electronic voting law<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://law.e-gov.go.jp/htmldata/H13/H13HO147.html |title=地方公共団体の議会の議員及び長の選挙に係る電磁的記録式投票機を用いて行う投票方法等の特例に関する法律 |access-date=26 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301013014/http://law.e-gov.go.jp/htmldata/H13/H13HO147.html |archive-date=1 March 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> allowed for the introduction of electronic [[voting machine]]s in local elections.<ref>MIC: [http://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/senkyo_s/news/touhyou/denjiteki/index.html 電磁的記録式投票制度について]</ref> The first machine vote took place in [[Niimi, Okayama]] in June 2002.<ref>''[[Kōbe Shimbun]]'', 28 June 2002: [http://www.kobe-np.co.jp/news_now/news2-157.html 全国初の電子投票ルポ 岡山・新見市]</ref> In 2003, a system for {{Nihongo|[[early voting]]|期日前投票制度|Kijitsu-mae tōhyō seido}} was introduced.<ref>MIC: [http://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/senkyo_s/naruhodo/naruhodo05.html#chapter1 期日前投票制度]</ref> In the [[2017 Japanese general election|2017 general/House of Representatives election]], a record number of more than 21 million Japanese voted early;<ref>[[Nihon Keizai Shimbun]], 22 October 2017: [https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO22559560S7A021C1000000/ 期日前投票、2137万人で過去最多], retrieved 9 October 2020.</ref> at the same time overall turnout was low (the second lowest in history), so in 2017, roughly 38% of all actual voters had voted early. For regular/House of Councillors elections, the [[2019 Japanese House of Councillors election|2019 election]] set a new all-time high with more than 17 million early voters,<ref>[[Nihon Keizai Shimbun]], 21 July 2019: [https://r.nikkei.com/article/DGXMZO47596530R20C19A7000000 期日前投票は1706万人で過去最多], retrieved 9 October 2020.</ref> corresponding to roughly a third of actual voters in 2019 as overall turnout hit the second lowest value in history.

== Walkovers ==
In Japan, [[Uncontested election|walkover]]s in elections are called {{Nihongo||無投票当選|Mutōhyō tōsen}}, "[being] elected without vote". And there is literally no vote held in a walkover in Japan, no way to vote "no" or abstain explicitly: If there are only as many candidates in an election as there are seats/offices at the start of the legal election period ("official announcement": {{Nihongo||公示|kōji}} in national general and regular elections; {{Nihongo||告示|kokuji}} in prefectural and municipal elections as well as national by-elections), they are declared the winners. But the otherwise applicable moratorium period after regular elections on [[Recall election|recall]] attempts does not apply after a walkover. (Recalls are a two-/three-step procedure: first, supporters of a recall must collect a sufficient number of signatures; if they do, a referendum is held on whether or not to recall the incumbent; only if that is accepted by a majority, a fresh election is scheduled.) Article 100 of the Public Offices Election Law deals with walkovers,<ref>[http://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/detail?lawId=325AC1000000100#983 kōshoku-senkyo-hō] in the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications|MIC]] e-gov database of legal texts</ref> there are additional walkover provisions for subnational elections in the Local Autonomy Law.

Walkovers have become widespread in prefectural and municipal elections in recent years; in the [[2019 Japanese unified local elections|2019 unified local elections]], out of 2277 seats up in 945 electoral districts for 41 prefectural assemblies, a record 612 seats are won by walkovers in a total of 371 districts or 39% of all electoral districts. In one extreme case, a rural single-member electoral district to the [[Shimane Prefecture|Shimane]] prefectural assembly, there hasn't been a contested election in 31 years (the whole [[Heisei period]]).<ref>[[NHK]] News, 29 March 2019: [https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20190329/k10011866221000.html 41道府県議選 無投票当選者が過去最多] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329122053/http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20190329/k10011866221000.html |date=29 March 2019 }} ("41 prefectural assembly elections: number of walkovers at all-time high"), retrieved 30 March 2019.</ref><ref>[[The Japan Times]] editorial, 22 March 2019: [https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/03/22/editorials/low-turnout-poor-competition-mar-local-elections/ Low turnout, poor competition mar local elections]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Electoral calendar]]
* [[Election]]
* [[Political funding in Japan]]
* [[National Diet]]
** [[House of Representatives (Japan)]]
** [[House of Councillors (Japan)]]

==Further reading==

* MacNair, Theodore M. (1891). "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/2276528 Parliamentary Elections in Japan]". ''Publications of the American Statistical Association''. '''2''' (13): 195–212.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/j/japan/ Adam Carr's Election Archive]
*[http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20061006TDY04005.htm Daily Yomiuri Online: Inequality at the polls must be corrected ]
*{{in lang|ja}} MIC: [http://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/index.html Elections, political funds] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928073218/https://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/index.html |date=28 September 2021 }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130125061011/http://www.freechoice.jp/ Free Choice Foundation]: [https://web.archive.org/web/20140709222204/http://www.freechoice.jp/electionsystem.pdf Election system in Japan]
*[[NHK]]SenkyoWEB: [https://www.nhk.or.jp/senkyo/schedule/monthly/ monthly schedules of upcoming (national, prefectural and all municipal) elections] (in Japanese)

{{Japanese elections}}
{{Asia topic|Elections in}}
{{Japan topics}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Elections in Japan| ]]