Editing Elections in Japan (section)

==Latest results==
=== October 2024 House of Representatives general and House of Councillors by-election ===
{{Main|2024 Japanese general election|2024 Japanese by-elections}}
In the wake of the fundraising party kickback scandal, the ruling coalition faced polls predicting a loss of its majority. But the opposition had not come up with a unified nomination strategy after most parties had changed leadership in 2024 and the Communist-non-Communist united front had ended: The main opposition CDP comprehensively cooperated with neither the left (JCP, Reiwa Shinsengumi) nor the centre-right (DPFP, Ishin), so a number of districts were contested by several competing opposition parties against the ruling camp (CDP-Ishin 115, CDP-JCP 142, CDP-DPFP 13),<ref>[[NHK]] News October 15, 2024: [https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20241015/k10014609431000.html 衆議院選挙公示 小選挙区・比例 計1344人が立候補 27日投開票], retrieved January 21, 2025.</ref> while others only saw LDP-JCP contests among the established parties. In the result, the LDP-Kōmeitō coalition, while losing its majority, maintained a plurality strong enough to continue as a minority government, with DPFP and Ishin willing to cooperate in legislation on a case-by-case basis. Among the far-left parties, ReiShin overtook the JCP, and two far-right parties, Sanseitō and the Conservative Party of Japan managed to enter the House of Representatives.

Summary of results:<ref>MIC: [https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000975594.pdf 令和6年10月27日執行 衆議院議員総選挙・最高裁判所裁判官国民審査結果調], retrieved January 21, 2025.</ref>
* Proportional tier (11 constituencies, 176 seats), turnout 53.83%
** [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|LDP]] 285 candidates (including 209 dual candidates), 26.7% of votes, 58→59 seats (34% of seats)
** [[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan|CDP]] 234 candidates (204 dual), 21.2%, 43→44 seats (25%)
** [[Democratic Party for the People|DPFP]] 42 candidates (41 dual), 11.3%, 20→17 seats (10%) – The party would have received 20 seats according to the vote result, but had not enough candidates left in two blocs after the removal of disqualified or victorious dual candidates, so the seats were redistributed to the next parties who would have received seats under the proportional D'Hondt distribution.
** [[Komeito]] 39 candidates (0 dual), 10.9%, 19→20 seats (11%)
** [[Nippon Ishin no Kai|Ishin]] 146 candidates (145 dual), 9.4%, 15 seats (9%)
** [[Reiwa Shinsengumi]] 32 candidates (16 dual), 7.0%, 9 seats (5%)
** [[Japanese Communist Party|JCP]] 35 candidates (12 dual), 6.2%, 7 seats (4%)
** [[Sanseitō]] 22 candidates (12 dual), 3.4%, 3 seats (2%)
** [[Conservative Party of Japan]] 26 candidates (dual candidacy n/a, requires legal party status before the election), 2,1%, 2 seats (1%) and legal party status
** [[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|SDP]] 17 candidates (10 dual), 1.7%, no seats
** Other parties (aggregate) 3 candidates (1 [[NHK Party]] dual candidate), 0.1%, no seats
* Majoritarian tier (289 constituencies, 289 seats), turnout 53.84%
** Governing parties (LDP+Komeito, cross-endorsed practically countrywide): 277 candidates, 39.9% of votes, 136 seats (47% of seats)
** CDP 207 candidates, 29.0%, 104 seats (36%)
** Ishin 163 candidates, 11.2%, 23 seats (8%)
** DPFP 41 candidates, 4.3%, 11 seats (4%)
** JCP 213 candidates, 6.8%, 1 seat (0%)
** SDP 10 candidates, 0.5%, 1 seat (0%)
** Conservative 4 candidates 0.3%, 1 seat (0%)
** Sanseitō 85 candidates, 2.5%, no seat
** Reiwa Shinsengumi 19 candidates, 0.8%, no seat
** Independents: 81 candidates (some of them party-endorsed or scandal-tainted LDP members whose national party nomination had been withdrawn) 4.7%, 12 seats (4%)
** Others (aggregate) 13 candidates, 0.1%, no seats

The House of Councillors by-election in Iwate after the scandal-related resignation of [[Megumi Hirose]] (independent, ex-LDP) who had been the first LDP candidate to win Iwate since 1992 was overwhelmingly won by centre-left ex-incumbent [[Eiji Kidoguchi]] (CDP) with 65.9% of the vote.

=== April 2024 House of Representatives by-elections ===
{{Main|2024 Japanese by-elections}}
On 28 April 2024, three by-elections were held: in Tokyo 15, Shimane 1 and Nagasaki 3. The CDP carried all three; amid extremely low approval ratings in the wake of the party kickback slush fund scandal, the LDP didn't contest Tokyo and Nagasaki (In Tokyo, [[Hirotada Ototake]] was supposed to be the LDP/[[Yuriko Koike]] affiliated candidate, but the LDP refused to endorse him), but also lost its previously unbroken "conservative kingdom" in Shimane.<ref>[[NHK]] News, 28 April 2024: [衆議院補欠選挙 立民 3選挙区すべて勝利 自民は議席失う], retrieved April 28, 2024.</ref><ref>[[NHK]] Senkyo Web election archive: H.R. by-elections [https://www3.nhk.or.jp/senkyo2/nagasaki/20506/skh54851.html Nagasaki 3], [https://www3.nhk.or.jp/senkyo2/matsue/20312/skh54640.html Shimane 1] and [https://www3.nhk.or.jp/senkyo2/shutoken/20507/skh54852.html Tokyo 15], retrieved April 28, 2024.</ref>

=== October 2023 by-elections to both houses ===
{{Main|2023 Japanese by-elections}}
In October 2023, two national by-elections were held on the same day as the prefectural assembly election in Miyagi. In Nagasaki's 4th House of Representatives district where [[Seigo Kitamura]] (LDP) had died in May, Yōzō Kaneko (LDP – Kōmeitō), the son of former Nagasaki governor and senator [[Genjirō Kaneko]], held the seat for the ruling coalition by 7 points over centre-left opposition candidate [[Seiichi Suetsugu]] (CDP – SDP). The Tokushima-Kōchi senate seat had fallen vacant when [[Kōjirō Takano]] (LDP) had resigned after assaulting his secretary; the seat went to opposition-supported former Kōchi 2 House of Representatives member [[Hajime Hirota]] (I) who beat ruling coalition candidate Ken Nishiuchi (LDP – Kōmeitō) by more than 24 points.<ref>[[NHK]] Senkyo Web election archive: by-elections [https://www.nhk.or.jp/senkyo/database/local/nagasaki/20177/skh54506.html H.R. Nagasaki 4] and [https://www.nhk.or.jp/senkyo/database/local/tokushima/20086/skh54397.html H.C. Tokushima-Kōchi], retrieved January 30, 2024.</ref>

=== April 2023 by-elections to both houses ===
{{Main|2023 Japanese by-elections}}
Together with the second stage of the unified local elections, five national by-elections were held. The ruling coalition carried four, Nippon Ishin expanded beyond its Osaka base with an FPTP victory in Wakayama, the center-left opposition won none. The House of Councillors by-election in Ōita, the most clear-cut one-on-one government/opposition contest of the evening, was decided in favour of government candidate [[Aki Shirasaka]] (LDP – Kōmeitō) by less than 400 votes over [[Tadatomo Yoshida]] (CDP  – JCP, SDP).

===2022 House of Councillors regular election===
{{Main|2022 Japanese House of Councillors election}}
Results<ref>Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications: [https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000825110.pdf Complete results of the 26th regular election] {{in lang|ja}}, retrieved 19 May 2023.</ref> summary:
* Proportional tier (1 nationwide constituency, 50 seats), turnout 52.04%
** [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|LDP]] 33 candidates, 34.4% of votes, 18 seats (36% of seats)
** [[Nippon Ishin no Kai|Ishin]] 26 candidates, 14.8%, 8 seats (16%)
** [[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan|CDP]] 20 candidates, 12.8%, 7 seats (14%)
** [[Komeito]] 17 candidates, 11.7%, 6 seats (12%)
** [[Japanese Communist Party|JCP]] 25 candidates, 6.8%, 3 seats (6%)
** [[Democratic Party for the People|DPFP]] 9 candidates, 6.0%, 3 seats (6%)
** [[Reiwa Shinsengumi]] 9 candidates, 4.4%, 2 seats (4%)
** [[Sanseitō]] 5 candidates, 3.3%, 1 seat (2%) and legal status as national-level political party
** [[Social Democratic Party (Japan)|SDP]] 8 candidates, 2.4%, 1 seat (2%) and defended legal party status
** [[NHK Party]] 9 candidates, 2.4%, 1 seat (2%) and defended legal party status
** 5 other parties (aggregate) 17 candidates, 1.1%, no seats
* Majoritarian tier (45 constituencies, 74 seats+1 integrated by-election to the other class), turnout 52.05%
** Governing parties (LDP+Komeito): 56 candidates, 45.5% of votes, 52 seats (69.3% of seats)
** CDP 31 candidates, 15.3%, 10 seats (13.3%)
** Ishin 20 candidates, 10.4%, 4 seats (5.3%)
** DPFP (cooperating with the CDP in some districts, competing in others) 13 candidates, 3.8%, 2 seats (2.6%)
** JCP (cooperating with the CDP in few districts, competing in most) 33 candidates, 6.8%, 1 seat (1.3%)
** Reiwa Shinsengumi 5 candidates, 1.9%, 1 seat (1.3%)
** Independents: 35 candidates (some of them party-endorsed) 8.1%, 5 seats (6.7%, four of them opposition-endorsed)
** Others (aggregate) 174 candidates, 8.2%, no seats

=== 2022 House of Councillors by-election ===
The April 24 by-election in Ishikawa to the 2019–25 class of the House of Councillors was safely won by government candidate [[Shūji Miyamoto]] (LDP-Komeito, 68.4%) against Tsuneko Oyamada (CDP-SDP, 21.6%) and candidates from JCP and NHK party. The seat had been vacated in December 2021 by [[Shūji Yamada]] (LDP) for his (unsuccessful) candidacy in the [[2022 Ishikawa gubernatorial election|gubernatorial election in March]].