2019 Japanese House of Councillors election

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2019 Japanese House of Councillors election

← 2016 21 July 2019 2022 →
124 of the 245 seats in the House of Councillors 123 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	48.8% 5.9%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Shinzō Abe Yukio Edano Natsuo Yamaguchi Party Liberal Democratic Constitutional Democratic Komeito Leader since 26 September 2012 2 October 2017 8 September 2009 Leader's seat Not contesting (Representative) Not contesting (Representative) Tokyo Last election 120 seats, 35.91% – 25 seats, 13.52% Seats after 113 32 28 Seat change 7 New 3 Popular vote 17,712,373 7,917,721 6,536,336 Percentage 35.37% 15.81% 13.05% Swing 0.54pp New 0.47pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Yuichiro Tamaki Toranosuke Katayama Ichirō Matsui Kazuo Shii Party Democratic for the People Innovation Communist Leader since 7 May 2018[1] 2 November 2015 24 November 2000 Leader's seat Not contesting (Representative) National Not contesting (Representative) Last election – 12 seats, 9.20% 14 seats, 10.74% Seats after 21 16 13 Seat change New 4 1 Popular vote 3,481,078 4,907,844 4,483,411 Percentage 6.95% 9.80% 8.95% Swing New 0.60pp 1.79pp   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Taro Yamamoto Seiji Mataichi Takashi Tachibana Party Reiwa Shinsengumi Social Democratic NHK Party Leader since 1 April 2019 25 February 2018 17 June 2013 Leader's seat Tokyo (ran in National; lost) National (retiring) National (won election) Last election – 2 seats, 2.74% – Seats after 2 2 1 Seat change New 0 New Popular vote 2,280,253 1,046,012 987,885 Percentage 4.55% 2.09% 1.97% Swing New 0.65pp New
President of the House of Councillors before election Chuichi Date Liberal Democratic Elected President of the House of Councillors Akiko Santō Liberal Democratic

House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on 21 July 2019 to elect 124 of the 245 members of the House of Councillors, the upper house of the then 710-member bicameral National Diet, for a term of six years.

74 members were elected by single non-transferable vote (SNTV)/First-past-the-post (FPTP) voting in 45 multi- and single-member prefectural electoral districts. The nationwide district elected 50 members by D'Hondt proportional representation with optionally open lists, the previous most open list system was modified in 2018 to give parties the option to prioritize certain candidates over the voters' preferences in the proportional election.^[2][3]

The election saw Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling coalition lose the two-thirds majority needed to enact constitutional reform.^[4][5] The Liberal Democratic Party also lost its majority in the House of Councillors, but the LDP maintained control of the House of Councillors with its junior coalition partner Komeito.

Background[]

The term of members elected in the 2013 regular election (including those elected in subsequent by-elections or as runners-up) was to end on 28 July 2019. Under the "Public Offices Election Act" (kōshoku-senkyo-hō), the regular election must be held within 30 days before that date, or under certain conditions if the Diet is in session or scheduled to open at that time, between 24 and 30 days after the closure of the session and thus potentially somewhat after the actual end of term.^[6]

Going into the election, the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Komeito controlled a two-thirds super-majority of seats in the House of Representatives but did not control a similar super-majority of seats in the House of Councillors, necessary to initiate amendments of the Constitution of Japan.

Pre-election composition[]

(as of 15 March 2018)^[7]

In the class of members facing re-election, the ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Kōmeitō and Party for Japanese Kokoro (PJK) had a combined 81 of 121 seats (as of March 2018).^[7] The governing coalition would have to lose 30 seats or more to forfeit its overall majority in the House of Councillors and face a technically divided Diet. However, as independents and minor opposition groups might be willing to support the government on a regular basis without inclusion in the cabinet, the losses required to face an actual divided Diet may have been much higher. If the Diet is divided after the election, the coalition's two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives can still override the House of Councillors and pass legislation, but certain Diet decisions, notably the approval of certain nominations by the cabinet such as public safety commission members or Bank of Japan governor, would require the cooperation of at least part of the opposition or an expansion of the ruling coalition.

Among the members facing re-election were House of Councillors President Chuichi Date (LDP, Hokkaido), Kōmeitō leader Natsuo Yamaguchi (K, Tokyo) and Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko (LDP, Wakayama at-large district).

District reapportionment[]

The following districts saw a change in their representation within the House at this election. One set of reforms were introduced in 2012 and first took effect at the 2013 election. The districts below are affected by the 2015 reforms, which started to take effect in the 2016 election.

In May 2018, the government announced that they are planning to introduce a revision into the Public Offices Election Law before the 2019 election. The proposed changes increased the number seats in the House by 6, 2 seats in the Saitama at-large district and 4 in the national PR block. As Saitama currently has the highest voters-to-councillor ratio, the increase would reduce its ratio gap with the least populous district (below the constitutional 3 to 1 limit). Meanwhile the seat increase in the PR block is aimed to address the absence of representation of prefectures in the merged-prefecture districts (namely Tottori-Shimane and Tokushima-Kōchi) and popular discontent in those prefectures. The plan also introduced a ranking system for the PR lists. This essentially changed it from a most open list system into a less open list system, mirroring the one used in the House of Representatives elections. To reduce the chance of the non-representation of a prefecture, candidates from prefectures not running in the merged districts were to be prioritised on the list.^[8]

Under the plan, the new Saitama seat and two new PR seats were contested in 2019, while the other three would be contested in .

Opinion polls[]

Proportional vote intention[]

Results[]

Party		National			Constituency			Seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Not up	Won	Total after	+/–
	Liberal Democratic Party	17,712,373	35.37	19	20,030,331	39.77	38	56	57	113	–7
	Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan	7,917,721	15.81	8	7,951,430	15.79	9	15	17	32	New
	Komeito	6,536,336	13.05	7	3,913,359	7.77	7	14	14	28	+3
	Nippon Ishin no Kai	4,907,844	9.80	5	3,664,530	7.28	5	6	10	16	+4
	Japanese Communist Party	4,483,411	8.95	4	3,710,768	7.37	3	6	7	13	–1
	Democratic Party for the People	3,481,078	6.95	3	3,256,859	6.47	3	15	6	21	New
	Reiwa Shinsengumi	2,280,253	4.55	2	214,438	0.43	0	0	2	2	New
	Social Democratic Party	1,046,012	2.09	1	191,820	0.38	0	1	1	2	0
	Party to Protect the People from NHK	987,885	1.97	1	1,521,344	3.02	0	0	1	1	New
	Assembly to Consider Euthanasia	269,052	0.54	0	215,181	0.43	0	0	0	0	New
	Happiness Realization Party	202,279	0.40	0	187,491	0.37	0	0	0	0	0
	Olive Tree	167,898	0.34	0	91,675	0.18	0	0	0	0	New
	Workers Party Aiming for Liberation of Labor	80,056	0.16	0	75,318	0.15	0	0	0	0	New
	Independents of Japan				3,586	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Independents				5,335,641	10.59	9	8	9	17	+5
Total		50,072,198	100.00	50	50,363,771	100.00	74	121	124	245	+3
Valid votes		50,072,352	96.92		50,363,771	97.47
Invalid/blank votes		1,592,527	3.08		1,307,308	2.53
Total votes		51,664,879	100.00		51,671,079	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		105,886,064	48.79		105,886,063	48.80
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

References[]