1986 Japanese general election
All 512 seats in the House of Representatives
257 seats needed for a majority
| First party | Second party | Third party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leader | Yasuhiro Nakasone | Masashi Ishibashi | Yoshikatsu Takeiri |
| Party | LDP | Socialist | Kōmeitō |
| Last election | 45.76%, 250 seats | 19.49%, 112 seats | 10.12%, 58 seats |
| Seats won | 300 | 85 | 56 |
| Seat change | Increase50 | Decrease27 | Decrease3 |
| Popular vote | 29,875,501 | 10,412,584 | 5,701,277 |
| Percentage | 49.42% | 17.23% | 9.43% |
| Swing | Increase3.66pp | Decrease2.26pp | Decrease0.69pp |
| Fourth party | Fifth party | Sixth party | |
DSP
|
|||
| Leader | Tetsuzo Fuwa | Tsukamoto Saburō | Yōhei Kōno |
| Party | JCP | Democratic Socialist | New Liberal Club |
| Last election | 9.34%, 26 seats | 7.27%, 38 seats | 2.36%, 8 seats |
| Seats won | 26 | 26 | 6 |
| Seat change | Steady | Decrease12 | Decrease2 |
| Popular vote | 5,313,246 | 3,895,858 | 1,114,800 |
| Percentage | 8.79% | 6.44% | 1.64% |
| Swing | Decrease0.55pp | Decrease0.83pp | Decrease0.72pp |
General elections were held in Japan on 6 July 1986 to elect the 512 members of the House of Representatives, alongside elections for the House of Councillors. The result was a landslide victory for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which gained 50 seats and an outright majority in the House.[1] [2] The LDP's 300 seats remains its joint-best general election result.
Most opposition parties lost seat, the exceptions being the Japanese Communist Party (which remained at 26 seats) and the Socialist Democratic Federation, which gained one seat. The biggest losses were experienced by the Japan Socialist Party, which lost 27 seats. The Democratic Socialist Party saw a 12-seat loss, while Kōmeitō saw a loss of three seats and the New Liberal Club, which had been in coalition with the LDP, lost two seats.
Prior to election day, polls indicated that the LDP would win a victory,[3] but the size of the victory was considered unexpected.[1] The New York Times wrote that "the fragmented opposition could not catch fire with any campaign issue."[3] Economic policy was not sharply contested in the campaign; however, the Japanese economy had seen its first quarter of contraction in 11 years.[4]
Results
[edit ]| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democratic Party | 29,875,501 | 49.42 | 300 | +50 | |
| Japan Socialist Party | 10,412,584 | 17.23 | 85 | –27 | |
| Japanese Communist Party | 5,313,246 | 8.79 | 26 | 0 | |
| Kōmeitō | 5,701,277 | 9.43 | 56 | –2 | |
| Democratic Socialist Party | 3,895,858 | 6.44 | 26 | –12 | |
| New Liberal Club | 1,114,800 | 1.84 | 6 | –2 | |
| Socialist Democratic Federation | 499,670 | 0.83 | 4 | +1 | |
| Other parties | 120,627 | 0.20 | 0 | – | |
| Independents | 3,515,043 | 5.81 | 9 | –7 | |
| Total | 60,448,606 | 100.00 | 512 | +1 | |
| Valid votes | 60,448,606 | 97.96 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 1,259,044 | 2.04 | |||
| Total votes | 61,707,650 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 86,426,845 | 71.40 | |||
| Source: IPU | |||||
| Seats won per district |
|---|
By prefecture
[edit ]| Prefecture | Total seats |
Seats won | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LDP | JSP | Kōmeitō | JCP | DSP | NLC | SDF | Ind. | ||
| Aichi | 22 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Akita | 7 | 5 | 2 | ||||||
| Aomori | 7 | 7 | |||||||
| Chiba | 18 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Ehime | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Fukui | 4 | 3 | 1 | ||||||
| Fukuoka | 19 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Fukushima | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Gifu | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Gunma | 10 | 8 | 2 | ||||||
| Hiroshima | 12 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Hokkaido | 23 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Hyōgo | 19 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Ibaraki | 12 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Ishikawa | 5 | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| Iwate | 8 | 6 | 2 | ||||||
| Kagawa | 6 | 5 | 1 | ||||||
| Kagoshima | 10 | 7 | 3 | ||||||
| Kanagawa | 20 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| Kōchi | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Kumamoto | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Kyoto | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Mie | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Miyagi | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Miyazaki | 6 | 5 | 1 | ||||||
| Nagano | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Nagasaki | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Nara | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Niigata | 13 | 10 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Ōita | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Okayama | 10 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Okinawa | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Osaka | 27 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | |||
| Saga | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Saitama | 17 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Shiga | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Shimane | 5 | 3 | 2 | ||||||
| Shizuoka | 14 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Tochigi | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Tokushima | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Tokyo | 44 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Tottori | 4 | 3 | 1 | ||||||
| Toyama | 6 | 4 | 2 | ||||||
| Wakayama | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Yamagata | 7 | 6 | 1 | ||||||
| Yamaguchi | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Yamanashi | 5 | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 512 | 300 | 85 | 56 | 26 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 9 |
References
[edit ]- ^ a b Inoguchi, Takashi (1987). "The Japanese double election of 6 July 1986". Electoral Studies. 6 (1): 63–69. doi:10.1016/0261-3794(87)90053-9. ISSN 0261-3794.
- ^ Haberman, Clyde (1986年07月13日). "MODERN JAPAN, LAND OF SUPERSTITION". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
- ^ a b Haberman, Clyde; Times, Special To the New York (1986年07月06日). "NAKASONE'S FATE RESTS ON VOTE TODAY". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
- ^ "Nakasone Party Wins Landslide". The Washington Post. 1986.