House of Representatives (Japan)

House of Representatives 衆議院 Shūgiin
208th Session of the National Diet (The 49th House of Representatives)
Type
Type	Lower house of the National Diet
Leadership
Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan	Hiroyuki Hosoda, LDP since November 10, 2021
Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan	Banri Kaieda, CDP since November 10, 2021
Prime Minister	Fumio Kishida, LDP since October 4, 2021
Leader of the Opposition	Kenta Izumi, CDP since November 30, 2021
Structure
Seats	465
Political groups	Government (292)   LDP (260)   Kōmeitō (32) Opposition (172)   CDP (96)   Ishin (41)   DPP (11)   JCP (10)   Yūshi no Kai (5)   Reiwa (3)   SDP (1)   Independents (5)
Committees	17 committees
Length of term	Up to 4 years
Salary	Speaker: ¥2,170,000/m Vice Speaker: ¥1,584,000/m Members: ¥1,294,000/m
Elections
Voting system	Parallel voting: First-past-the-post voting (289 seats) Party-list proportional representation (176 seats)
First election	1 July 1890
Last election	31 October 2021
Next election	On or before 30 October 2025
Meeting place
Chamber of the House of Representatives
Website
www.shugiin.go.jp

The House of Representatives (衆議院, Shūgiin) is the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Councillors is the upper house.

The composition of the House is established by Article 41 (ja) and Article 42 (ja) of the Constitution of Japan. The House of Representatives has 465 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these, 176 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation, and 289 are elected from single-member constituencies.

The overall voting system used to elect the House of Representatives is a parallel system, a form of semi-proportional representation. Under a parallel system the allocation of list seats does not take into account the outcome in the single seat constituencies. Therefore, the overall allocation of seats in the House of Representatives is not proportional, to the advantage of larger parties. In contrast, in bodies such as the German Bundestag or the New Zealand Parliament the election of single-seat members and party list members is linked, so that the overall result respects proportional representation fully or to some degree.

The House of Representatives is the more powerful of the two houses, able to override vetoes on bills imposed by the House of Councillors with a two-thirds majority.

The last election for the House of Representatives was held on 31 October 2021 in which the Liberal Democratic Party won a majority government with 261 seats. Along with their coalition partner, Komeito, which won 32 seats, the governing coalition holds 293 seats in total.

Right to vote and candidature

• Japanese nationals aged 18 years and older may vote (prior to 2016, the voting age was 20).
• Japanese nationals aged 25 years and older may run for office in the lower house.

Differences between the Upper and Lower Houses

The House of Representatives has several powers not given to the House of Councillors. If a bill is passed by the lower house (the House of Representatives) but is voted down by the upper house (the House of Councillors) the House of Representatives can override the decision of the House of Councillors by a two-thirds vote in the affirmative. However, in the case of treaties, the budget, and the selection of the prime minister, the House of Councillors can only delay passage, but not block the legislation. As a result, the House of Representatives is considered the more powerful house.

Members of the House of Representatives, who are elected to a maximum of four years, sit for a shorter term than members of the House of Councillors, who are elected to full six-year terms. The lower house can also be dissolved by the Prime Minister or the passage of a nonconfidence motion, while the House of Councillors cannot be dissolved. Thus the House of Representatives is considered to be more sensitive to public opinion, and is termed the "lower house".

While the legislative term is nominally 4 years, early elections for the lower house are very common, and the median lifespan of postwar legislatures has in practice been around 3 years.

Current composition

Composition of the House of Representatives of Japan
(as of November 11, 2024, first day of the 215th National Diet) (elected in 2024; term: 27 October 2024 – 2028 or earlier dissolution)

Parliamentary groups/caucuses		Parties	Seats
	Liberal Democratic Party/Assembly of independents Jiyūminshutō・mushozoku no kai	Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Independents	196
	Constitutional Democratic Party/Independents Rikken Minshutō・mushozoku	Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) Social Democratic Party (SDP)	148
	Nippon Ishin no Kai Nippon Ishin no Kai	Nippon Ishin no Kai	38
	Democratic Party for the People/Independent club Kokumin Minshutō・mushozoku club	Democratic Party For the People (DPFP)	28
	Komeito Kōmeitō	Komeito	24
	Reiwa Shinsengumi Reiwa Shinsengumi	Reiwa Shinsengumi	9
	Japanese Communist Party Nihon Kyōsantō	Japanese Communist Party (JCP)	8
	Yūshi no Kai Yūshi no kai	Independents	4
	Sanseitō Sanseitō	Sanseitō	3
	Conservative Party of Japan Nippon Hoshutō	Conservative Party of Japan	3
	Independents (not member of a caucus) Mushozoku	Independents (not member of a party) LDP (Speaker) CDP (Vice-Speaker)	4
Total			465

For a list of majoritarian members and proportional members from Hokkaidō, see the List of members of the Diet of Japan.

The current seating arrangement within the chamber by party.

Latest election result

Main article: Results of the 2021 Japanese general election

Constituency Cartogram

Many polls had predicted a weakened LDP or even a complete loss of government control in the elections, with one poll by The Japan Times suggesting the party would lose around 40 seats. Though the LDP did lose 25 seats compared to the previous elections, they comfortably maintained their single-party majority in the Diet.

The opposition coalition of CDP, JCP, SDP and Reiwa Shinsengumi failed to increase its seat share, suffering a net loss of thirteen seats compared to the outgoing parliament. The CDP itself remained the largest opposition party, finishing second with 96 seats; although this marked an increase on the 55 seats won by the original CDP in the 2017 elections, the party had held 109 seats going into the elections following the merger with the Democratic Party For the People. The JCP lost two seats going from 12 to 10, the SDP kept its one constituency seat in Okinawa, and Reiwa Shinsengumi increased its seats from one prior to the election to three.

The Osaka-based Nippon Ishin no Kai saw a strong third-place finish with 41 seats, a net gain of 30. The party won all seats in Osaka prefecture, except for four where they did not stand a candidate. The party also finished first in the Kinki Proportional Block.

Party		Proportional			Constituency			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Liberal Democratic Party	19,914,883	34.66	72	27,626,235	48.08	187	259	–25
	Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan	11,492,095	20.00	39	17,215,621	29.96	57	96	New
	Nippon Ishin no Kai	8,050,830	14.01	25	4,802,793	8.36	16	41	+30
	Komeito	7,114,282	12.38	23	872,931	1.52	9	32	+3
	Japanese Communist Party	4,166,076	7.25	9	2,639,631	4.59	1	10	–1
	Democratic Party For the People	2,593,396	4.51	5	1,246,812	2.17	6	11	New
	Reiwa Shinsengumi	2,215,648	3.86	3	248,280	0.43	0	3	New
	Social Democratic Party	1,018,588	1.77	0	313,193	0.55	1	1	–1
	NHK Party	796,788	1.39	0	150,542	0.26	0	0	New
	Shiji Seitō Nashi	46,142	0.08	0				0	0
	Japan First Party	33,661	0.06	0	9,449	0.02	0	0	New
	Yamato Party	16,970	0.03	0	15,091	0.03	0	0	New
	New Party to Strengthen Corona Countermeasures by Change of Government	6,620	0.01	0				0	New
	Kunimori Conservative Party				29,306	0.05	0	0	New
	Love Earth Party				5,350	0.01	0	0	New
	Nippon Spirits Party				4,552	0.01	0	0	0
	Reform Future Party				3,698	0.01	0	0	New
	Renewal Party				2,750	0.00	0	0	New
	Party for a Successful Japan				1,630	0.00	0	0	New
	Independents				2,269,168	3.95	12	12	–10
Total		57,465,979	100.00	176	57,457,032	100.00	289	465	0
Valid votes		57,465,979	97.58		57,457,032	97.55
Invalid/blank votes		1,425,366	2.42		1,443,227	2.45
Total votes		58,891,345	100.00		58,900,259	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		105,224,103	55.97		105,224,103	55.98
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

By prefecture

Prefecture	Total seats	Seats won
		LDP	CDP	Ishin	Komeito	DPP	JCP	SDP	Ind.
Aichi	15	11	3			1
Akita	3	2	1
Aomori	3	3
Chiba	13	9	4
Ehime	4	4
Fukui	2	2
Fukuoka	11	8	2						1
Fukushima	5	2	3
Gifu	5	5
Gunma	5	5
Hiroshima	7	5	1		1
Hokkaido	12	6	5		1
Hyōgo	12	8	1	1	2
Ibaraki	7	5				1			1
Ishikawa	3	3
Iwate	3	2	1
Kagawa	3	1	1			1
Kagoshima	4	2	1						1
Kanagawa	18	11	7
Kōchi	2	2
Kumamoto	4	3							1
Kyoto	6	2	2			1			1
Mie	4	3	1
Miyagi	6	4	2
Miyazaki	3	2	1
Nagano	5	4	1
Nagasaki	4	3				1
Nara	3	1	1						1
Niigata	6	2	3						1
Ōita	3	2							1
Okayama	5	4							1
Okinawa	4	2					1	1
Osaka	19			15	4
Saga	2		2
Saitama	15	12	3
Shiga	4	4
Shimane	2	2
Shizuoka	8	5	2						1
Tochigi	5	4	1
Tokushima	2	1							1
Tokyo	25	15	8		1				1
Tottori	2	2
Toyama	3	3
Wakayama	3	2				1
Yamagata	3	3
Yamaguchi	4	4
Yamanashi	2	2
Total	289	187	57	16	9	6	1	1	12

By PR block

PR block	Total seats	Seats won
		LDP	%	CDP	%	Ishin	%	Komeito	%	JCP	%	DPP	%	RS	%
Chūgoku	11	6	43.4%	2	18.4%	1	9.2%	2	14.0%	0	5.5%	0	3.7%	0	3.0%
Hokkaido	8	4	33.6%	3	26.6%	0	8.4%	1	11.5%	0	8.1%	0	2.9%	0	4.0%
Hokuriku–Shinetsu	11	6	41.8%	3	22.0%	1	10.3%	1	9.2%	0	6.4%	0	3.8%	0	3.2%
Kinki (Kansai)	28	8	25.7%	3	11.6%	10	33.9%	3	12.3%	2	7.8%	1	3.2%	1	3.1%
Kyushu	20	8	35.7%	4	20.1%	2	8.6%	4	16.5%	1	5.8%	1	4.4%	0	3.9%
Northern Kanto	19	7	35.2%	5	22.5%	2	10.0%	3	13.3%	1	7.2%	1	4.8%	0	3.9%
Shikoku	6	3	39.2%	1	17.2%	1	10.2%	1	13.7%	0	6.4%	0	7.2%	0	3.1%
Southern Kanto	22	9	34.9%	5	22.3%	3	11.7%	2	11.5%	1	7.2%	1	5.2%	1	4.1%
Tohoku	13	6	39.5%	4	24.1%	1	6.3%	1	11.1%	1	7.1%	0	4.8%	0	3.5%
Tokai	21	9	37.4%	5	22.1%	2	10.3%	3	11.7%	1	6.1%	1	5.7%	0	4.1%
Tokyo	17	6	31.0%	4	20.1%	2	13.3%	2	11.1%	2	10.4%	0	4.7%	1	5.6%
Total	176	72		39		25		23		9		5		3

Party-list vote by prefecture

Prefecture	LDP	CDP	Innovation	Komeito	JCP	DPFP	Reiwa	SDP
Aichi	35.9	22.4	11.0	11.3	6.4	5.7	4.4	1.3
Akita	45.4	21.1	5.6	10.8	5.9	5.2	2.7	2.3
Aomori	43.2	23.8	4.4	11.0	7.9	2.5	3.3	2.7
Chiba	35.5	22.1	11.2	12.4	7.0	5.3	3.8	1.4
Ehime	41.1	18.6	9.9	14.2	5.2	4.4	3.3	2.1
Fukui	45.9	20.9	9.1	9.5	5.3	3.6	3.4	1.1
Fukuoka	33.0	19.3	11.1	17.3	6.5	4.4	4.3	2.5
Fukushima	37.9	25.7	5.3	11.2	7.2	5.2	3.8	2.3
Gifu	40.3	20.6	10.0	11.6	6.2	5.0	3.8	1.2
Gunma	38.4	20.2	9.3	14.3	7.3	3.5	3.6	1.9
Hiroshima	45.9	17.0	10.4	12.3	4.9	3.5	2.8	1.9
Hokkaido	33.6	26.6	8.4	11.5	8.1	2.9	4.0	1.6
Hyogo	27.4	13.4	32.1	12.3	6.2	3.0	3.3	1.2
Ibaraki	38.1	20.2	9.9	14.1	5.7	5.9	3.7	1.3
Ishikawa	44.1	18.4	14.4	8.7	4.5	3.5	3.1	1.9
Iwate	35.5	29.2	4.6	9.2	8.0	5.2	3.8	3.1
Kagawa	39.9	13.1	8.7	11.7	4.5	16.4	2.5	2.0
Kagoshima	41.3	20.7	7.7	14.3	4.6	3.1	3.2	3.6
Kanagawa	34.2	22.2	12.5	10.8	7.4	5.2	4.3	1.9
Kochi	38.0	21.7	6.1	15.0	10.4	3.0	3.0	1.5
Kumamoto	40.8	19.1	7.2	17.1	4.3	3.9	3.5	2.5
Kyoto	29.2	13.7	23.0	9.8	13.2	5.1	3.7	1.1
Mie	36.3	25.0	9.1	13.8	5.3	3.9	3.9	1.2
Miyagi	37.4	22.9	10.0	11.4	7.3	3.9	3.5	2.3
Miyazaki	38.9	17.2	9.1	16.2	5.3	5.3	2.8	3.5
Nagano	35.0	26.3	9.1	10.3	8.9	3.9	3.4	2.0
Nagasaki	37.1	19.7	7.2	15.7	4.8	8.7	3.0	2.5
Nara	30.6	13.9	28.1	11.8	7.0	3.5	2.7	1.1
Niigata	43.9	24.2	6.5	8.7	6.1	4.0	3.0	2.3
Oita	36.5	22.4	7.6	14.1	5.3	3.8	3.5	5.3
Okayama	37.8	19.8	9.7	15.9	6.3	4.7	3.0	1.4
Okinawa	23.8	20.2	6.0	20.9	9.7	3.1	5.9	8.6
Osaka	20.4	9.0	42.5	13.4	7.6	2.2	2.8	1.0
Saga	41.4	25.8	6.1	12.8	3.8	3.4	3.2	2.1
Saitama	32.5	23.6	10.2	13.3	8.4	4.9	4.1	1.6
Shiga	35.1	15.8	21.2	8.7	7.3	5.1	4.2	1.5
Shimane	42.5	22.0	7.4	12.7	5.8	3.5	2.9	2.1
Shizuoka	39.3	20.9	9.7	11.3	5.6	7.0	3.6	1.3
Tochigi	38.1	24.5	10.3	11.7	4.5	4.2	3.6	1.6
Tokushima	35.8	15.6	17.0	14.4	6.9	3.9	3.8	1.2
Tokyo	31.0	20.1	13.3	11.1	10.4	4.7	5.6	1.4
Tottori	36.5	23.7	7.9	16.5	6.0	3.2	3.5	1.6
Toyama	45.7	12.7	18.4	8.4	5.0	3.5	2.9	2.2
Wakayama	33.8	11.1	21.5	15.8	7.2	5.7	2.6	0.9
Yamagata	41.7	20.9	5.1	12.4	6.0	6.9	3.4	2.3
Yamaguchi	49.6	14.7	7.4	14.4	5.4	2.8	3.5	1.4
Yamanashi	39.7	24.8	6.0	11.7	6.5	4.5	4.1	1.5
Japan	34.7	20.0	14.1	12.4	7.3	4.5	3.9	1.8

Election results for major parties since 1958

Shaded

• green: Ruling party/coalition before and after the lower house election
• red: Ruling party/coalition until the election = Change of government as a result of the lower house election
• blue: Ruling party/coalition after the election = Change of government as a result of the lower house election
• none: Opposition before and after the election

Note that the composition of the ruling coalition may change between lower house elections, e.g. after upper house elections. Parties who vote with the government in the Diet, but are not part of the cabinet (e.g. SDP & NPH after the 1996 election) are not shaded.

Parallel electoral system (since 1996)

Vote and seats by party and segment

Parties	Segment	1996	2000	2003	2005	2009	2012	2014	2017
Total seats		500	480	480	480	480	480	475	465
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jiyū Minshutō	FPTP	38.6%	41.0%	43.9%	47.8%	38.6%	43.0%	48.1%	48.21%
		169	177	168	219	64	237	223	226
	PR	32.8%	28.3%	35.0%	38.1%	26.7%	27.6%	33.1%	33.28%
		70	56	69	77	55	57	68	66
	Total seats	239	233	237	296	119	294	291	284
Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) Rikken Minshutō	FPTP	–							8.75%
									18
	PR								19.88%
									37
	Total seats								55
Party of Hope Kibō no Tō	FPTP	–							20.64%
									18
	PR								17.36%
									32
	Total seats								50
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Minshutō (1996–2014) Democratic Party (DP) Minshintō (2017)	FPTP	10.6%	27.6%	36.7%	36.4%	47.4%	22.8%	22.5%	no party nominations, ≈14 members elected
		17	80	105	52	221	27	38
	PR	16.1%	25.2%	37.4%	31.0%	42.4%	15.9%	18.3%
		35	47	72	61	87	30	35
	Total seats	52	127	177	113	308	57	73
Japan Restoration Party (JRP) Nippon Ishin no Kai (2012) Japan Innovation Party (JIP) Ishin no Tō (2014)	FPTP	–					11.6%	8.2%	3.18%
							14	11	3
	PR						20.3%	15.7%	6.07%
							40	30	8
	Total seats						54	41	11
(New) Komeito (K/NK/NKP/CGP/NCGP/etc.) Kōmeitō	FPTP	–	2.0%	1.5%	1.4%	1.1%	1.4%	1.5%	1.5%
			7	9	8	0	9	9	8
	PR		13.0%	14.8%	13.3%	11.4%	11.8%	13.7%	12.51%
			24	25	23	21	22	26	21
	Total seats		31	34	31	21	31	35	29
Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Nihon Kyōsantō	FPTP	12.6%	12.1%	8.1%	7.2%	4.2%	7.8%	13.3%	9.02%
		2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
	PR	13.1%	11.2%	7.8%	7.2%	7.0%	6.1%	11.4%	7.9%
		24	20	9	9	9	8	20	11
	Total seats	26	20	9	9	9	8	21	12
Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shakai Minshutō	FPTP	2.2%	3.8%	2.9%	1.5%	1.9%	0.7%	0.8%	1.15%
		4	4	1	1	3	1	1	1
	PR	6.4%	9.4%	5.1%	5.5%	4.2%	2.3%	2.5%	1.69%
		11	15	5	6	4	1	1	1
	Total seats	15	19	6	7	7	2	2	2
New Frontier Party (NFP) Shinshintō (1996) Liberal Party Jiyūtō (2000) Tomorrow Party of Japan (TPJ) Nippon Mirai no Tō (2012) People's Life Party (PLP) Seikatsu no Tō (2014) Liberal Party (LP) Jiyūtō (2017)	FPTP	28.0%	3.4%	–			5.0%	1.0%	no party nominations, 2 members elected
		96	4				2	2
	PR	28.0%	11.0%				5.7%	1.9%
		60	18				7	0
	Total seats	156	22				9	2
Your Party (YP) Minna no Tō	FPTP	–				0.8%	4.7%	–
						2	4
	PR					4.2%	8.7%
						3	14
	Total seats					5	19
Conservative Party Hoshutō (2000) New Conservative Party Hoshu Shintō (2003)	FPTP	–	2.0%	1.3%	–
			7	4
	PR		0.4%	–
			0	–
	Total seats		7	4
New Party Harbinger (NPH) Shintō Sakigake	FPTP	1.3%	–
		2
	PR	1.0%
		0
	Total seats	2

SNTV multi-member districts (1947–1993)

Vote for candidates by party and
seats by party

Parties	1958	1960	1963	1967	1969	1972	1976	1979	1980	1983	1986	1990	1993
Total seats	467	467	467	486	486	491	511	511	511	511	512	512	511
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jiyū Minshutō	57.8%	57.6%	54.7%	48.8%	47.6%	46.8%	41.8%	44.6%	47.9%	48.9%	49.4%	46.1%	36.7%
	287	296	283	277	288	271	249	248	284	250	300	275	223
Japan Socialist Party (JSP) Nippon Shakaitō	32.9%	27.6%	29.0%	27.9%	21.4%	21.9%	20.7%	19.7%	19.3%	19.5%	17.2%	24.4%	15.4%
	166	145	144	140	90	118	123	107	107	112	85	136	70
Japan Renewal Party (JRP) Shinseitō	–												10.1%
													55
Kōmeitō (K/KP/CGP/etc.) Kōmeitō	–			5.4%	10.9%	8.5%	11.0%	9.8%	9.0%	10.1%	9.4%	8.0%	8.1%
				25	47	29	55	57	33	58	56	45	51
Japan New Party (JNP) Nihon Shintō	–												8.0%
													35
Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) Minshatō	–	8.8%	7.4%	7.4%	7.7%	7.0%	6.3%	6.8%	6.6%	7.3%	6.4%	4.8%	3.5%
		17	23	30	31	19	29	35	32	38	26	14	15
Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Nihon Kyōsantō	2.6%	2.9%	4.0%	4.8%	6.8%	10.5%	10.4%	10.4%	9.8%	9.3%	8.8%	8.0%	7.7%
	1	3	5	5	14	38	17	39	29	26	26	16	15
New Party Harbinger (NPH) Shintō Sakigake	–												3.5%
													13

History

Meiji period (1890–1912)

Kuroda Kiyotaka, Satsuma samurai and prime minister in the late 1880s, coined the term "transcendentalism" (超然主義, chōzen shugi) on the occasion of the promulgation of the Meiji Constitution in 1889. The oligarchs should try to "transcend" electoral politics and govern without partisan majorities the House of Representatives

Itō Hirobumi, a Chōshū samurai, member of the House of Peers and prime minister of Japan on three non-consecutive occasions between 1885 and 1901. He was a main architect of the Imperial Constitution which created the Imperial Diet. When the oligarchs attempts to govern "transcendentally" mostly failed in the 1890s, he saw the necessity for permanent allies among elected political parties.

Hara Takashi, although actually himself born a Morioka noble, made his career as commoner-politician and became the first and one of only three prime ministers from the House of Representatives in the Empire

See also: Meiji Restoration

The Japanese parliament, then known as the Imperial Diet, was established in 1890 as a result of the 1889 Meiji Constitution. It was modeled on the parliaments of several Western countries, particularly the German Empire and the United Kingdom, because of the Emperor Meiji's westernizing reforms. The Imperial Diet consisted of two chambers, the elected House of Representatives which was the lower house, and the House of Peers which was the upper house. This format was similar to the House of Lords in the Westminster system, or the Herrenhaus in Prussia, where the upper house represented the aristocracy.

Both houses, and also the Emperor, had to agree on legislation, and even at the height of party-based constitutional government, the House of Peers could simply vote down bills deemed too liberal by the Meiji oligarchy, such as the introduction of women's suffrage, increases in local autonomy, or trade union rights. The prime minister and his government served at the Emperor's pleasure, and could not be removed by the Imperial Diet. However, the right to vote on, and if necessary to block, legislation including the budget, gave the House of Representatives leverage to force the government into negotiations. After an early period of frequent confrontation and temporary alliances between the cabinet and political parties in the lower house, parts of the Meiji oligarchy more sympathetic to political parties around Itō Hirobumi and parts of the liberal parties eventually formed a more permanent alliance, in the form of the Rikken Seiyūkai in 1900. The confidence of the House of Representatives was never a formal requirement to govern, but between 1905 and 1918, only one cabinet took office that did not enjoy majority support in the House of Representatives.

Taisho and early Showa periods (1912–1937)

See also: Empire of Japan (internal politics 1914–1944)

During the Taishō political crisis in 1913, a no-confidence vote against the third Katsura government, accompanied by major demonstrations outside the Diet, was followed shortly by resignation. Subsequently, in the period often referred to as Taishō democracy, it became increasingly customary to appoint many ministers, including several prime ministers, from the House of Representatives – Hara Takashi was the first commoner to become prime minister in 1918.

In the same year, the Rice Riots had confronted the government with an unprecedented scale of domestic unrest, and a German Revolution brought the Prusso-German monarchy to an end, the very system Meiji oligarchs had used as the main model for the Meiji constitution to consolidate and preserve Imperial power. Even Yamagata Aritomo and other oligarchs that had been fundamentally opposed to political parties, became more inclined to cooperate with the still mainly bourgeoisie parties, to prevent a rise of socialism or other movements that might threaten Imperial rule. Socialist parties would not be represented in significant numbers in the lower house until the 1930s.

The initially very high census suffrage requirement was reduced several times, until the introduction of universal male suffrage in 1925. The electoral system to the House of Representatives was also fundamentally changed several times: between systems of "small" mostly single- and few multi-member electoral districts (1890s, 1920, 1924), "medium" mostly multi-member districts (1928–1942) and "large" electoral districts (usually only one, rarely two city and one counties district per prefecture; 1900s and 1910s), using first-past-the-post in single-member districts, plurality-at-large voting (1890s) or single non-transferable vote in the multi-member districts.

Influence of the House of Representatives on the government increased, and the party cabinets of the 1920s brought Japan apparently closer to a parliamentary system of government, and there were several reforms to the upper house in 1925. However, the balance of powers between the two houses and the influential role of extra-constitutional actors such as the Genrō (who still selected the prime minister) or the military (that had brought down several cabinets) remained in essence untouched. Within a year of the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in September 1931, a series of assassinations and coup attempts followed. Party governments were replaced by governments of "national unity" (kyokoku itchi) which were dominated by nobles, bureaucrats and increasingly the military.

World War II and aftermath (1937–1947)

See also: Empire of Japan (internal politics 1914–1944)

After the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and the start of war in 1937, the influence of the Imperial Diet was further diminished, though never fully eliminated, by special laws such as the National Mobilization Law and expanded powers for cabinet agencies such as the Planning Board. The House of Representatives in the Empire had a four-year term and could be dissolved by the Emperor. In contrast, members of the House of Peers had either life tenure (subject to revocation by the Emperor) or a seven-year term in the case of members elected in mutual peerage elections among the three lower peerage ranks, top taxpayer and academic peerage elections. During the war, the term of the members of the House of Representatives elected in the last pre-war election of 1937 was extended by one year.

In the 1946 election to the House of Representatives, held under the U.S.-led Allied occupation of Japan, women's suffrage was introduced, and a system of "large" electoral districts (one or two per prefecture) with limited voting was used. A change in the electoral law in April 1945 had for the first time allocated 30 seats to the established colonies of the Empire: Karafuto (Sakhalin), Taiwan, and Chōsen (Korea); but this change was never implemented. Similarly, Korea and Taiwan were granted several appointed members of the House of Peers in 1945.

In 1946, both houses of the Imperial Diet (together with the Emperor) passed the postwar constitution which took effect in 1947. The Imperial Diet was renamed the National Diet, the House of Peers was replaced by an elected upper house called the House of Councillors, and the House of Representatives would now be able to override the upper house in important matters. The constitution also gave the Diet exclusive legislative authority, without involvement of the Emperor, and explicitly made the cabinet responsible to the Diet and requires that the prime minister has the support of a majority in the House of Representatives.

Late Showa period (1947–1989)

Shigeru Yoshida, prime minister 1946–1947 as a member of the House of Peers and 1948–1954 as a member of the House of Representatives, oversaw the end of the American-led occupation and the beginning of the Japanese economic miracle.

See also: Post-occupation Japan

The Diet first met under the new constitution on 20 May 1947. Four days later, Tetsu Katayama of the Democratic Socialist Party became Japan's first socialist prime minister and the first since the introduction of parliamentarianism.

Since the end of US rule in 1952, it has been the norm that the prime minister dissolves the House of Representatives before its 4-year term expires. Only once, in 1976, did the House last a full 4 years. It has become tradition to give nicknames to each dissolution, usually referencing a major political issue or controversy. One infamous example was on 14 March 1953, when Shigeru Yoshida dissolved the House and called for new election, after he name called people during a meeting of the budget committee. This came to be known as the "you idiot" dissolution.

In 1955, prime minister Ichirō Hatoyama oversaw the creation of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which since his third government has dominated Japanese politics under the 1955 System. The LDP would govern without interruption for nearly 40 years until the 1993 election, alone save for a three-year coalition government with the New Liberal Club after the 1983 election.

Hatoyama planned to change the electoral system to first past the post, introducing a bill to that effect in March 1956. This was met with opposition from the Socialist Party, who criticized Hatoyama's plan as a "Hatomander". The bill passed the House of Representatives in May 1956, but was never voted on by the House of Councillors. Electoral reform came into vogue again in the 1970s, but Kakuei Tanaka's plan met opposition internally in the LDP and never came to a vote in either chamber of the Diet.

Recent history (since 1989)

Shinzo Abe, prime minister 2006-2007 and again 2012-2020, was the longest-serving PM in Japanese history.

Japan entered a lengthy recession in the 1990s (see Lost Decades), which many people blamed on the LDP. In the 1993 election, the party lost power for the first time under the 1955 System, when an eight-party coalition led by Morihiro Hosokawa of the Japan New Party were able to form a government. This government fell apart after nine months, and was succeeded by the Hata Cabinet, another short-lived non-LDP government. The LDP returned to power in 1994 with the Murayama Cabinet, this time in a coalition with their old rivals the Socialists, whose leader Tomiichi Murayama became prime minister.

As with party colleagues Ichirō Hatoyama and Kakuei Tanaka before him, prime minister Toshiki Kaifu of the LDP unsuccessfully tried to reform the electoral system in 1991. However, the Morihiro Hosokawa government got the 1994 Japanese electoral reform through the Diet, introducing a parallel voting system which went into effect at the next election in 1996. Under this system, which remains in effect as of 2022, 300 (since reduced to 289) members of the House of Representatives are elected using first past the post in single-member constituencies, while 200 (since reduced to 176) members are elected in regional blocs using party-list proportional representation.

The LDP once again lost power at the 2009 election, when the Democratic Party-led Hatoyama Cabinet took over. The LDP and Komeito, which had formed a two-party government between 2003 and 2009, came to power again after the 2012 election. Shinzo Abe, who had previously led the First Abe Cabinet, was prime minister for another stint lasting eight years.

List of House of Representatives general elections

19th century

Election	Date	Elected prime minister (during term)	Turnout	Seats	Date of dissolution (D) / expiration of term (E)	Registered voters	Majority party	Seats Share		Monarch (Reign)
Imperial Diet (1890–1947); upper house: House of Peers										Emperor Meiji (1867–1912)
1890	1 July 1890	Yamagata Aritomo	93.91%	300		450,872	Constitutional Liberal	130	43.33%
		(Matsukata Masayoshi)
1892	15 February 1892	Matsukata Masayoshi	91.59%		(D) 25 December 1891	434,594		094	31.33%
		(Itō Hirobumi)
Mar. 1894	1 March 1894	Itō Hirobumi	88.76%		(D) 30 December 1893	440,113		120	40.00%
Sep. 1894	1 September 1894	Itō Hirobumi	84.84%		(D) 2 June 1894	460,483		107	35.66%
		(Matsukata Masayoshi)
		(Itō Hirobumi)
Mar. 1898	15 March 1898	Itō Hirobumi	87.50%		(D) 25 December 1897	452,637		105	35.00%
		(Ōkuma Shigenobu)
Aug. 1898	10 August 1898	Ōkuma Shigenobu	79.91%		(D) 10 June 1898	502,292	Kensei Hontō	124	41.33%
		(Yamagata Aritomo)
		(Itō Hirobumi)
		(Katsura Tarō)
Election	Date	Elected prime minister (during term)	Turnout	Seats	Date of dissolution (D) / expiration of term (E)	Registered voters	Majority party	Seats Share		Monarch (Reign)

20th century

Election	Date	Elected prime minister (during term)	Turnout	Seats	Date of dissolution (D) / expiration of term (E)	Registered voters	Majority party	Seats Share		Monarch (Reign)
1902	10 August 1902	Katsura Tarō	88.39%	376	(E) 9 August 1902	982,868	Rikken Seiyūkai	191	50.79%	Emperor Meiji (1867–1912)
1903	1 March 1903		86.17%		(D) 28 December 1902	958,322		175	46.54%
1904	1 March 1904	Katsura Tarō	86.06%	379	(D) 11 December 1903	762,445		133	35.09%
		(Saionji Kinmochi)
1908	15 May 1908	Saionji Kinmochi	85.29%		(E) 27 March 1908	1,590,045		187	49.34%
		(Katsura Tarō)
		(Saionji Kinmochi)
1912	15 May 1912	Saionji Kinmochi	89.58%	381	(E) 14 May 1912	1,506,143		209	54.85%
		(Katsura Tarō)
		(Yamamoto Gonnohyōe)
		(Ōkuma Shigenobu)
1915	25 March 1915	Ōkuma Shigenobu	92.13%		(D) 25 December 1914	1,546,411	Rikken Dōshikai	153	40.15%	Emperor Taishō (1912–1926)
		(Terauchi Masatake)
1917	20 April 1917	Terauchi Masatake	91.92%		(D) 25 January 1917	1,422,126	Rikken Seiyūkai	165	43.30%
		(Hara Takashi)
1920	10 May 1920	Hara Takashi	86.73%	464	(D) 26 February 1920	3,069,148		278	59.91%
		(Takahashi Korekiyo)
		(Katō Tomosaburō)
		(Yamamoto Gonnohyōe)
		(Kiyoura Keigo)
1924	10 May 1924	Katō Takaaki	91.18%		(D) 31 January 1924	3,288,405	Kenseikai	151	32.54%
		(Wakatsuki Reijirō)
		(Tanaka Giichi)
1928	20 February 1928	Tanaka Giichi	80.36%	466	(D) 21 January 1928	12,408,678	Rikken Seiyūkai	218	46.78%	Emperor Shōwa (1926–1989)
		(Hamaguchi Osachi)
1930	20 February 1930	Hamaguchi Osachi	83.34%		(D) 21 January 1930	12,812,895	Rikken Minseitō	273	58.58%
		(Wakatsuki Reijirō)
		(Inukai Tsuyoshi)
1932	20 February 1932	Inukai Tsuyoshi	81.68%		(D) 21 January 1932	13,237,841	Rikken Seiyukai	301	64.59%
		(Saitō Makoto)
		(Keisuke Okada)
1936	20 February 1936	Kōki Hirota	78.65%		(D) 21 January 1936	14,479,553	Rikken Minseitō	205	43.99%
		(Senjūrō Hayashi)
1937	30 April 1937	Senjūrō Hayashi	73.31%		(D) 31 March 1937	14,618,298		179	38.41%
		(Fumimaro Konoe)
		(Hiranuma Kiichirō)
		(Nobuyuki Abe)
		(Mitsumasa Yonai)
		(Fumimaro Konoe)
		(Fumimaro Konoe)
		(Hideki Tojo)
1942	30 April 1942	Hideki Tojo	83.16%		(E) 29 April 1942	14,594,287	Imperial Rule Assistance Association	381	81.75%
		(Kuniaki Koiso)
		(Kantarō Suzuki)
		(Kantarō Suzuki)
		(Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni)
		(Kijūrō Shidehara)
1946	10 April 1946	Shigeru Yoshida	72.08%		(D) 18 December 1945	36,878,420	Liberal	141	30.25%
1947	25 April 1947	Tetsu Katayama	67.95%		(D) 31 March 1947	40,907,493	Socialist	143	30.68%
		(Hitoshi Ashida)
		(Shigeru Yoshida)
National Diet (1947–present); upper house: House of Councillors
1949	23 January 1949	Shigeru Yoshida	74.04%	466	(D) 23 December 1948	42,105,300	Democratic Liberal	264	56.65%
		(Shigeru Yoshida)
1952	1 October 1952	Shigeru Yoshida	76.43%		(D) 28 August 1952	46,772,584	Liberal	240	51.50%
1953	19 April 1953	Shigeru Yoshida	74.22%		(D) 14 March 1953	47,090,167	Liberal Yoshida faction	199	42.70%
		(Ichirō Hatoyama)
1955	27 February 1955	Ichirō Hatoyama	75.84%	467	(D) 24 January 1955	49,235,375	Democratic	185	39.61%
		(Ichirō Hatoyama)
		(Tanzan Ishibashi)
		(Nobusuke Kishi)
1958	22 May 1958	Nobusuke Kishi	76.99%		(D) 25 April 1958	52,013,529	Liberal Democratic	287	61.45%
		(Hayato Ikeda)
1960	20 November 1960	Hayato Ikeda	73.51%		(D) 24 October 1960	54,312,993		296	63.38%
1963	21 November 1963	Hayato Ikeda	71.14%		(D) 23 October 1963	58,281,678		283	60.59%
		(Eisaku Satō)
1967	29 January 1967	Eisaku Satō	73.99%	486	(D) 27 December 1966	62,992,796		277	56.99%
1969	27 December 1969	Eisaku Satō	68.51%		(D) 2 December 1969	69,260,424		288	59.25%
		(Kakuei Tanaka)
1972	10 December 1972	Kakuei Tanaka	71.76%	491	(D) 13 November 1972	73,769,636		271	55.19%
		(Takeo Miki)
1976	5 December 1976	Takeo Fukuda	73.45%	511	(E) 9 December 1976	77,926,588		249	48.72%
		(Masayoshi Ōhira)
1979	7 October 1979	Masayoshi Ōhira	68.01%		(D) 7 September 1979	80,169,924		248	48.53%
1980	22 June 1980	Zenkō Suzuki	74.57%		(D) 19 May 1980	80,925,034		284	55.57%
		(Yasuhiro Nakasone)
1983	18 December 1983	Yasuhiro Nakasone	67.94%		(D) 28 November 1983	84,252,608	Liberal Democratic (LDP-NLC coalition)	250	48.92%
1986	2 June 1986	Yasuhiro Nakasone	71.40%	512	(D) 2 June 1986	86,426,845	Liberal Democratic	300	58.59%
		(Noboru Takeshita)
		(Sōsuke Uno)
		(Toshiki Kaifu)
1990	18 February 1990	Toshiki Kaifu	73.31%		(D) 24 January 1990	90,322,908		275	53.71%	Emperor Akihito (Heisei) (1989–2019)
		(Kiichi Miyazawa)
1993	18 July 1993	Morihiro Hosokawa	67.26%	511	(D) 18 June 1993	94,477,816	Liberal Democratic (JNP-JRP–JSP-Komeito–DSP-NPS-SDF coalition: 1993–1994, JRP–Komeito–JNP-DSP-Liberal Reform League coalition: 1994, LDP-JSP-NPS coalition since 1994)	223	43.63%
		(Tsutomu Hata)
		(Tomiichi Murayama)
		(Ryūtarō Hashimoto)
1996	20 October 1996	Ryūtarō Hashimoto	59.65%	500	(D) 27 September 1996	97,680,719	Liberal Democratic (LDP-JSP/SDP-NPS coalition: 1996, LDP-Liberal coalition: 1999, LDP-Komeito-Liberal/NCP coalition: 1999-2000, LDP-Komeito-NCP coalition: 2000)	239	47.80%
		(Keizō Obuchi)
		(Yoshirō Mori)
2000	25 June 2000	Yoshirō Mori	62.49%	480	(D) 2 June 2000	100,492,328	Liberal Democratic (LDP-Komeito-NCP coalition)	233	48.54%
		(Junichiro Koizumi)
Election	Date	Elected prime minister (during term)	Turnout	Seats	Date of dissolution (D) / expiration of term (E)	Registered voters	Majority party	Seats Share		Monarch (Reign)

21st century

Election	Date	Elected prime minister (during term)	Turnout	Seats	Date of dissolution (D) / expiration of term (E)	Registered voters	Majority party	Seats Share		Monarch (Reign)
2003	9 November 2003	Junichiro Koizumi	59.86%	480	(D) 10 October 2003	102,306,684	Liberal Democratic (LDP-Komeito coalition)	237	49.37%	Emperor Akihito (Heisei) (1989–2019)
2005	11 September 2005	Junichiro Koizumi	67.51%		(D) 8 August 2005	103,067,966		296	61.66%
		(Shinzo Abe)
		(Yasuo Fukuda)
		(Tarō Asō)
2009	30 August 2009	Yukio Hatoyama	69.28%		(D) 21 July 2009	104,057,361	Democratic (DPJ-PNP-SDP coalition: 2009-2010, DPJ-PNP coalition: 2010-2012)	308	64.16%
		(Naoto Kan)
		(Yoshihiko Noda)
2012	16 December 2012	Shinzo Abe	59.32%		(D) 16 November 2012	103,959,866	Liberal Democratic (LDP-Komeito coalition)	294	61.25%
2014	14 December 2014		52.66%	475	(D) 21 November 2014	104,067,104		291	61.26%
2017	22 October 2017	Shinzo Abe	53.68%	465	(D) 28 September 2017	106,091,229		284	61.08%
		(Yoshihide Suga)
		(Fumio Kishida)
2021	31 October 2021	Fumio Kishida	55.93%		(D) 14 October 2021	105,622,758		261	56.12%	Emperor Naruhito (Reiwa) (2019–present)
Election	Date	Elected prime minister (during term)	Turnout	Seats	Date of dissolution (D) / expiration of term (E)	Registered voters	Majority party	Seats Share		Monarch (Reign)

See also

• National Diet
• House of Councillors (Japan)
• List of districts of the House of Representatives of Japan
• List of speakers of the House of Representatives of Japan
• Sekihairitsu, the system used in elections for the House of Representatives to determine the order of candidates on a proportional representation list

External links

• House of Representatives Website (in English) – Official site of the House of Representatives
• House of Representatives Internet TV- Official site