Editing Elections in Japan (section)

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{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
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{{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.