| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Kokkai / National Diet |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Sangiin / House of Councillors |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Shugiin / House of Representatives
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
11 July 2010 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for one-half of the seats in the House of Councillors on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
The 2010 elections to the House of Councillors were the first general elections to be held after the shift in power in 2009, when the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) - which had governed the country nearly without interruption since 1955 - lost to the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in the 2009 elections to the House of Representatives. At stake in the 2010 elections were half of the 242 seats (121) in the House of Councillors.
In the previous elections to the House of Councillors (July 2007), the LDP of then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suffered a heavy defeat, taking only 37 of the 121 seats at stake. The LDP lost control of the chamber for the first time since the party's inception in 1955, retaining only 83 seats in the House. Its coalition partner, the New Komeito, took nine seats. Inversely, the DPJ, previously the main opposition party, won a record 60 seats and became the largest party in the House of Councillors. Mr. Satsuki Eda (DPJ) was elected as the new President of the House, becoming the first opposition member to hold the post. Prime Minister Abe resigned in September and was replaced by Mr. Yasuo Fukuda (LDP). Mr. Fukuda in turn resigned one year later and was succeeded by a former foreign minister, Mr. Taro Aso (LDP), shortly after the global economic crisis started to affect the Japanese economy.
Prime Minister Aso initially enjoyed high popularity. However, he soon came under criticism over his government's economic policies. In the elections to the House of Representatives held in August 2009, the LDP took only 119 of the 480 seats at stake, its worst performance since 1955. The DPJ became the largest force in the House of Representatives, winning 308 seats. Its victory marked a turning point in Japanese politics. Mr. Aso resigned both as Prime Minister and LDP President.
In September, Mr. Yukio Hatoyama (DPJ) was elected as the new Prime Minister. In an apparent bid to secure a majority in the House of Councillors, he subsequently formed a coalition government comprising the DPJ, the Social Democratic Party (SDPJ) and Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party). The SDPJ advocated the transfer of the United States military base out of Okinawa prefecture, while the Kokumin Shinto promised to review the privatization of the postal service.
Prime Minister Hatoyama was also initially popular. However, shortly after he took up the post, financial scandals involving DPJ members caused his popularity to drop. He came under criticism over his changes of mind concerning the relocation of the US military base in Okinawa prefecture. On 23 May 2010, he announced that the government would relocate the military base within the prefecture, not, as advocated by the SDPJ, outside it. The latter subsequently left the coalition, leaving the DPJ-led government with a slim majority in the House of Councillors. The government's approval rating dropped to below 20 per cent. In order to boost support for the DPJ ahead of the 2010 elections, on 4 June 2010 Mr. Hatoyama stepped down as Prime Minister and was succeeded by the Finance Minister, Mr. Naoto Kan (DPJ), on 8 June.
On 16 June, Prime Minister Kan officially called elections for 11 July and announced that the government would enact legislation to scale back postal privatization, as advocated by Kokumin Shinto, in the next session of parliament.
In all, 437 candidates were vying for seats in the 2010 elections. House President Eda's candidacy was backed by the DPJ, while his predecessors had stood for election as independents to ensure the post remained neutral.
Prior to the 2010 elections, several new parties were formed by LDP dissidents. Your Party (Minna no To), launched by Mr. Yoshimi Watanabe in August 2009, took five seats in the 2009 elections to the House of Representatives. Two more parties were formed in April 2010: the New Renaissance Party (Shinto Kaikaku), under the leadership of former Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe, and the Sunrise Party of Japan ("Tachiagare Nippon", which means literally "Stand up, Japan"), co-founded by former Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma and former Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano.
The media focused on whether the DPJ-led government would retain a majority, over 122 seats, in the House of Councillors. In addition to the 65 seats not up for renewal in 2010, the government camp needed to win at least 57 seats.
Prime Minister Kan set the DPJ's victory line at over 54 seats (the same number of DPJ seats that were to be renewed in 2010). LDP leader Sadakazu Tanigaki, who set the LDP's target at over 40 seats, said he would resign if opposition forces did not win an overall majority in the new House of Councillors.
The LDP's pledge to raise the consumption tax from the current 5 per cent to 10 per cent pushed the tax issue to the centre of the election campaign, which officially started on 24 June.
The DPJ promised to launch a debate with the LDP and the other parties on whether to raise the consumption tax with a view to fiscal consolidation by 2020. It reportedly fared well at the beginning of the election campaign thanks to Mr. Kan's popularity. It fared less well, however, when Mr. Kan's popularity dropped sharply, from 70 to 30 per cent, after he stated that the government would consider the LDP's tax-rise proposal. Mr. Kan subsequently withdrew the statement and urged voters to give the DPJ another chance to implement policies to revitalize Japan.
LDP leader Tanigaki argued that the DPJ's way of running the government was "arbitrary and irresponsible". He urged voters to support the LDP, insisting that they needed to defeat the ruling bloc and prevent it from gaining a majority.
Unlike the DPJ and the LDP, Your Party promised not to raise the consumption tax for three years and pledged to eliminate wasteful public expenditure. Party leader Watanabe ruled out a post-election coalition with the DPJ but said his party would cooperate with the new government to beat deflation.
The leader of the New Renaissance Party, Mr. Masuzoe, warned that Japan could not sustain its economy unless the consumption tax was raised to over 10 per cent by 2020. The Sunrise Party of Japan promised to raise the consumption tax to 8 percent from 2012 and to between 12 and 15 per cent once the economy had recovered. Both parties were reportedly struggling to set themselves apart from the major parties.
In all, 57.92 per cent of some 104 million registered voters turned out at the polls. A record 12 million voted before the official polling day.
The DPJ took 44 seats while its coalition partner, Kokumin Shinto, failed to win any seats. The coalition government failed to retain an overall majority in the House of Councillors, holding 109 of the 242 seats. The LDP took the largest number of seats in 2010, winning 51 of the 121 seats at stake. Its overall share increased from 71 to 84 seats. Your Party (Minna no To) won ten seats, thus holding 11 seats in all. New Komeito, the Japanese Communist Party and the SDPJ took nine, three and two seats respectively. The New Renaissance Party and the Sunrise Party of Japan took one seat each. In all, 17 women were elected in 2010, bringing the total number of women in the House of Councillors to 44.
On 30 July, the newly elected members joined the members who were not up for re-election in 2010. They elected Mr. Takeo Nishioka (DPJ) as the new President of the House of Councillors.
Parliamentary groups in the House of Councillors (26 July 2010)
The Democratic Party and the Shin-Ryokufukai (DP-SR): 107
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP): 83
New Komeito (NK): 19
Your Party: 11
Japanese Communist Party (JCP): 6
The Sunrise Party of Japan and New Renaissance Party: 5
Social Democratic Party (SDP): 4
The People's New Party (PN): 3
Independents: 4
Total: 242 |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 11 July 2010 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
104'029'135
60'251'214 (57.92%)
|
|
Notes
|
The statistics above refer to PR system.
Statistics for the Majority system
Number of registered electors: 104,029,135
Voters: 60,255,670 (57.92%) |
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) |
84 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) |
106 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Your Party (Minna no To) |
44 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| New Komeito |
20 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Japanese Communist Party (JCP) |
64 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Social Democratic Party (SDPJ) |
14 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Sunrise Party of Japan ("Tachiagare Nippon") |
13 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| New Renaissance Party (Shinto Kaikaku) |
12 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Majority |
PR |
|
|
| Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) |
51
|
39 |
12 |
|
|
| Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) |
44
|
28 |
16 |
|
|
| Your Party (Minna no To) |
10
|
3 |
7 |
|
|
| New Komeito |
9
|
3 |
6 |
|
|
| Japanese Communist Party (JCP) |
3
|
0 |
3 |
|
|
| Social Democratic Party (SDPJ) |
2
|
0 |
2 |
|
|
| Sunrise Party of Japan ("Tachiagare Nippon") |
1
|
0 |
1 |
|
|
| New Renaissance Party (Shinto Kaikaku) |
1
|
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
104
17
14.05%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
Over 70 years
|
24
75
66
63
14
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
| Civil service and local authority administration |
114 |
| Finance, management or business |
103 |
| Education profession |
57 |
| Secretary to MPs and Ministers |
56 |
| Others |
33 |
| Trade union official |
30 |
| Journalism, broadcasting, media |
24 |
| Legal profession |
21 |
| Physician, dentist |
21 |
| Civil society activity |
14 |
| Writer, literary, artist |
14 |
| Political party official |
8 |
| Research/sciences |
6 |
| Agriculture/farming |
5 |
| Nursing |
2 |
| International civil servant |
1 |
|
| Comments |
Sources:
http://www.sangiin.go.jp/eng/member/strength/index.htm
http://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/senkyo_s/data/sangiin22/index_1.html
http://www.sangiin.go.jp/japanese/joho1/kousei/giin/182/giinsu.htm
House of Councillors: (13.07.2010, 09.03.2011, 05.01.2012, 09.01.2013, 01.05.2013, 13.06.2013)
Note on the "Distribution of seats according to sex":
The "Distribution of seats according to sex" above shows the breakdown for the MPs elected in 2010: 17 women of 121 members or 14.05 per cent. After the 2010 elections there were 44 women in all out of 242 members or 18.18%. (House of Councillors, 13.07.2010).
Note on "Distribution of seats according to profession":
Some members have listed more than one primary occupation.
Note on the vacant seats in the House of Councillors:
Several members of the House of Councillors ran for the elections to the House of Representatives in December 2012. As at 8 January 2013, there were 43 women out of a total of 236 members and six vacant seats. One seat will be filled through a by-election on 28 April 2013, while the five others will remain vacant until July 2013, when the House of Councillors is due for renewal. |
|
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
