Chamber:
	Sangiin
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	23 July 1995
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for one-half (126) of the seats in the House of Councillors on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	Following the previous Councillors' elections in July 1992, Mr. Tomiichi Murayama became Prime Minister in June 1994 at the head of a three-party coalition comprising his own Social Democratic Party of Japan (SDPJ), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the small New Party Sakigake; this left-right alliance-made possible when the Socialists "crossed the floor" - held 158 of the House's 252 seats. The election date was set on 26 December 1994 and the poll for one-half of the Councillors' seats was deemed an important forerunner to that for the House of Representatives in 1996, on the basis of which the Prime Minister would be chosen. The SDPJ - regarded as having veered to the right in the political spectrum since in power - launched its campaign on 6 July. Among its foes was the newly founded Shinshinto (New Frontier Party), a reform-oriented group led by former Premier Toshiki Kaifu which advocated sweeping political and economic changes. Observers noted little discussion of issues by the other contenders. On a polling day marked by a record (post-war) low turnout, Shinshinto gained 21 additional seats as the conservative LDP failed to top the national proportional vote for the first time since it was founded 40 years earlier. The ruling coalition as a whole - led by LDP - lost seven seats of the 75 it defended to bring its House total to 151, with the SDJP hitting an all-time low. In this context, there were opposition calls for Prime Minister Murayama to step down. He justified his carrying on, however, by declaring: "We achieved the minimum success required to stay in office". On 8 August, his Cabinet was reshuffled in the aftermath of the electoral setback.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (23 July 1995): Elections results. Majority system
Number of registered electors	97,759,025
Voters	43,074,723 (44.5%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	1,500,026
Valid votes	41,574,697
Round no 1 (23 July 1995): Elections results. Proportional system
Number of registered electors	97,759,025
Voters	43,060,121 (44.5%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	2,388,359
Valid votes	40,671,762

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total	Seats 1995	Gain/Loss
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)	110	49	+16
Shinshinto (New Frontier Party)	56	40	+21
Social Democratic Party of Japan (SDPJ)	38	16	-25
Japan Communist Party (JCP)	14	8	+3
Komeito (Clean Government Party)	11	0	-1
New Party Sakigake	3	3	+2
Independents	12	6	-3
Others	8	4	-11

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	217
Women:	35

Distribution of seats according to age:
Under 31 years	1
31-40 years	7
41-50 years	31
51-60 years	46
61-70 years	35
Over 70 years	6