House of Councillors (Japan)

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Coordinates: 35°40′35.5″N 139°44′40.5″E / 35.676528°N 139.744583°E / 35.676528; 139.744583

House of Councillors

参議院

Sangiin
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Leadership
President
Akiko Santō, LDP (caucus: independent)
since 1 August 2019
Vice President
Toshio Ogawa, CDP (caucus: independent)
since 1 August 2019
Structure
Seats245
Japan House of Councillors - January 2021.svg
Political groups
Government (142)
  •   LDP & affiliated Independents (114)
  •   Kōmeitō (28)

Opposition (103)

Elections
Voting system
Parallel voting:
Single non-transferable vote (147 seats)
Party-list proportional representation (98 seats)
Staggered elections
Last election
21 July 2019
Next election
Meeting place
Japanese diet inside.jpg
Chamber of the House of Councillors
Website
www.sangiin.go.jp
Politics of Japan
Go-shichi no kiri crest 2.svg
Government
The Monarchy
Legislature
Executive
Judiciary
Administrative divisions
Elections
Political parties
Foreign relations
Flag of Japan.svg Japan portal
  • Other countries
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The House of Councillors (参議院, Sangiin) is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or designation of the prime minister, the House of Representatives can insist on its decision. In other decisions, the House of Representatives can override a vote of the House of Councillors only by a two-thirds majority of members present.

The House of Councillors has 245 members who each serve six-year terms, two years longer than those of the House of Representatives. Councillors must be at least 30 years old, compared with 25 years old in the House of Representatives. The House of Councillors cannot be dissolved, and terms are staggered so that only half of its membership is up for election every three years. Of the 121 members subject to election each time, 73 are elected from 45 districts by single non-transferable vote (SNTV) and 48 are elected from a nationwide list by proportional representation (PR) with open lists.[1]

Roles and responsibilities[]

The power of House of Councillors is very similar to the Canadian Senate or the Irish Seanad.[2] Most of the laws should be passed through both of the upper and lower houses. However, the power of the House of Councilors is very limited. For example, the House of Representatives can override the House of Councilors on issues of budget, international treaties and electing a government, and on other matters, the lower house can override the upper house with two thirds majority. However the upper house can indirectly delay or even block any bill from passing into law by just sending it back to the lower house for a new vote again and again until the bill "expires". But in practice, it rarely voted against the decisions reached by the lower house.[3] The House of Councillors also votes for any constitutional ammendment which needs a two-thirds majority of both the houses of the Diet, followed by a simple majority in a national referendum.[2]

Membership and Elections[]

Article 102 of the Japanese Constitution provided that half of the councillors elected in the first House of Councillors election in 1947 would be up for re-election three years later in order to introduce staggered six-year terms.

The House initially had 250 seats. Two seats were added to the House in 1970 after the agreement on the repatriation of Okinawa, increasing the House to a total of 252.[4] Legislation aimed at addressing malapportionment that favoured less-populated prefectures was introduced in 2000; this resulted in ten seats being removed (five each at the 2001 and 2004 elections), bringing the total number of seats to 242.[4] Further reforms to address malapportionment took effect in 2007 and 2016, but did not change the total number of members in the house.[4]

From 1947 to 1983, the House had 100 seats allocated to a national block (全国区, zenkoku-ku), of which fifty seats were allocated in each election.[4] It was originally intended to give nationally prominent figures a route to the House without going through local electioneering processes.[citation needed] Some national political figures, such as feminists Shidzue Katō and Fusae Ichikawa and former Imperial Army general Kazushige Ugaki, were elected through the block, along with a number of celebrities such as comedian Yukio Aoshima (later Governor of Tokyo), journalist Hideo Den and actress Yūko Mochizuki.[citation needed] Shintaro Ishihara won a record 3 million votes in the national block in the 1968 election.[citation needed] The national block was last seen in the 1980 election and was replaced with a nationwide proportional representation block in the 1983 election.[4] The national proportional representation block was reduced to 96 members in the 2000 reforms.[4]

Current composition[]

Composition of the House of Councillors of Japan (as of 18 August 2021 between 204th & 205th National Diet)[5]
Caucus (English name)[6]
(domestic name)		 Parties Members
Term expires Total
July 25, 2022 July 28, 2025
PR SNTV/FPTP Subtotal PR SNTV/FPTP Subtotal
Liberal Democratic Party and Voice of The People
Jiyūminshutō / Kokumin no Koe		 LDP, Independent 20 38 58 17 36 53 111
The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Social Democratic Party
Rikken-minshutō / Shamin		 CDP, SDP 8 15 23 8 14 22 45
Komeito
Kōmeitō		 Kōmeitō 7 7 14 7 7 14 28
Nippon Ishin(Japan Innovation Party)
Nippon Ishin no Kai		 Ishin 3 3 6 5 4 9 15
Democratic Party For the People and The Shin-Ryokufukai
Kokumin-minshutō / Shin-Ryokufūkai		 DPFP, Independents 4 5 9 3 3 6 15
Japanese Communist Party
Nihon Kyōsantō		 JCP 5 1 6 4 3 7 13
Okinawa Whirlwind
Okinawa no Kaze		 Okinawa Social Mass, Independent 0 1 1 0 1 1 2
REIWA SHINSENGUMI
Reiwa Shinsengumi		 Reiwa Shinsengumi 0 0 0 2 0 2 2
Hekisuikai
Hekisuikai		 Independents 0 0 0 0 2 2 2
Your Party
Minna no Tō		 N-Koku, Independent 1 0 1 1 0 1 2
Independents
Members not affiliated with any parliamentary caucus		 Independents, LDP (President), CDP (Vice President) 0 2 2 3 2 5 7
Vacant:
One Shizuoka seat in the 2016 class (by-election to be held October 24, 2021),
the Yamaguchi seat in the 2019 class,
one Kanagawa seat in the 2019 class (by-election to be integrated into the 2022 regular election to the other class) 		0 1 1 0 2 2 3
Total 48 73 121 50 74 124 245
  • view


For a list of individual members, see the List of members of the Diet of Japan.

Latest election[]

See also[]

References[]

Specific
  1. ^ Hayes 2009, p. 50
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Fahey, Rob (18 July 2019). "Japan Explained: The House of Councilors - Tokyo Review". Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  3. ^ Reiko, Oyama (30 June 2015). "The Rightful Role of the House of Councillors". nippon.com. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f 参議院議員選挙制度の変遷 [Changes to the electoral system of the House of Councillors] (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  5. ^ Sangiin (House of Councillors): 会派別所属議員数 (number of members by parliamentary group), retrieved 19 August 2021.
  6. ^ House of Councillors: Strength of the Political Groups in the House of Counillors, retrieved 19 August 2021.
Bibliography
  • Hayes, L. D., 2009. Introduction to Japanese Politics. 5th ed. New York: M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 978-0-7656-2279-2

External links[]

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