Elections in Japan - Definition

This article is part of the series Politics of Japan

Emperor Constitution

National Diet House of Representatives House of Councillors Political parties Elections: Lower House: 2000 - 2003 Upper House: 2004

Prime Minister Cabinet

Supreme Court Judiciary

Elections in Japan gives information on election and election results in Japan. An election is a process in which a vote is held to elect candidates to an office. It is the mechanism by which a democracy fills elective offices in the legislature, and sometimes the executive and judiciary, and in which electorates choose local government officials.

See election for a more comprehensive discussion and the List of democracy and elections-related topics for an overview on related topics.

Japan elects on national level a legislature. The Diet (Kokkai) has two chambers. The House of Representatives (Shugi-in) has 480 members, elected for a four-year term, 300 members in single-seat constituencies and 180 members by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs. The House of Councillors (Sangi-in) has 247 members, elected for a six year term, every three year one-half renewed, 149 members in multi-seat constituencies and 98 by proportional representation. Japan developed from a one party dominant state into a two-party system, which means that there are two dominant political parties , with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of any other party.

Results

• House of Representatives:
  • Japan general election, 2000
  • Japan general election, 2003
• House of Councillors:
  • Japan upper house election, 2004

See also

• Electoral calendar
• Electoral system

External links

• Electionworld (http://www.electionworld.org/japan.htm)
• Adam Carr's Election Archive (http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/j/japan/)