House of Representatives (Japan)

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Coordinates: 35°40′30.6″N 139°44′41.8″E / 35.675167°N 139.744944°E / 35.675167; 139.744944

House of Representatives
衆議院
Shūgiin
The 45th House of Representatives
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type Lower house
Leadership
Speaker Bunmei Ibuki, LDP
Since December 26, 2012
Vice-Speaker Hirotaka Akamatsu, DPJ
Since December 26, 2012
Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, LDP
Since December 26, 2012
Opposition Leader Banri Kaieda, DPJ
Since December 25, 2012
Structure
Seats 480
46th House of Representatives of Japan seat composition.svg
Political groups
  LDP (294)
  DPJ/Club of Independents (57)
  Restoration (54)
  Kōmeitō (31)
  YP (18)
  Tomorrow (9)
  JCP (8)
  Independents (6)
  SDP/Shimin Rengō (2)
  PNP(1)
Elections
Voting system Parallel voting:
First past the post (300 seats)
Party-list proportional representation (180 seats)
Last election December 16, 2012
Meeting place
Chamber of the House of Representatives of Japan.jpg
The House of Representatives Chamber
Website
www.shugiin.go.jp
Japan
Imperial Seal of Japan.svg
This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Japan

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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 House of Representatives has 480 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these, 180 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by a party-list system of proportional representation, and 300 are elected from single-member constituencies. 241 seats are required for majority.

The overall voting system used to elect the House of Representatives is a parallel system, not a form of 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 the election of single-seat members and party list members is linked, so that the overall result respects proportional representation.

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. It can be dissolved by the Prime Minister at will, as it was by Yoshihiko Noda on November 16, 2012.

Contents

Right to vote and candidature [edit]

  • Japanese nationals aged 20 years and older may vote.
  • Japanese nationals aged 25 years and older may run for office in the lower house.

Differences between the Upper and Lower Houses [edit]

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".

The term "lower house" is also a legacy of the 1889 Meiji Constitution, when the House of Peers functioned as an aristocratic upper house in a format similar to the House of Lords in the Westminster system, or the Herrenhaus in the Prussian-based German government of the time.

Current composition [edit]

(as of May 21, 2013)[1]

Parliamentary group
(breakdown by party)		 Representatives
Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (Jiyūminshutō) 294
  Democratic Party of Japan, Club of Independents (Minshutō・Mushozoku Club) 56
Japan Restoration Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai) 53
New Komeito (Kōmeitō) 31
Your Party (Minna no Tō) 18
Japanese Communist Party (Nihon Kyōsantō) 8
People's Life Party (Seikatsu no Tō) 7
Social Democratic Party (Shakaiminshutō・Shimin Rengō) 2
Independents
(independents: 6, Speaker (LDP): 1, Vice-Speaker (DPJ): 1, Green Wind: 1, TPJ: 1)		 10
Total 479

The vacant proportional seat of Tomohiro Ishikawa (Hokkaidō block, New Party Daichi list) will be filled by the runner-up on that list (kuriage-tōsen), second-ranking[2] Takako Suzuki, the daughter of party leader Muneo Suzuki.[3]


Latest election result [edit]

e • d Summary of the 16 December 2012 Japanese House of Representatives election results[4]
Alliances and parties Local constituency vote PR block vote Total seats +/−
Votes[5]  % Seats Votes  % Seats Total  % (pre-
election)		 (last
election)
   Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jimintō 25,643,309 43.01 237 16,624,457 27.79 57 294 61.25 Increase176 Increase175
New Komeito Party (NKP) Kōmeitō ("Justice Party") 885,881 1.49 9 7,116,474 11.90 22 31 6.46 Increase10 Increase10
Prospective LDP–NKP Coalition 26,529,190 44.49 246 23,740,931 39.69 79 325 67.71 Increase186 Increase185
   Democratic Party (DPJ) Minshutō 13,598,773 22.81 27 9,268,653 15.49 30 57 11.88 Decrease173 Decrease251
Restoration Party (JRP) Ishin no Kai 6,942,353 11.64 14 12,262,228 20.50 40 54 11.25 Increase43 —
Your Party (YP) Minna no Tō 2,807,244 4.71 4 5,245,586 8.77 14 18 3.75 Increase10 Increase10
Tomorrow Party (TPJ) Mirai no Tō 2,992,365 5.02 2 3,423,915 5.72 7 9 1.88 Decrease52 —
Communist Party (JCP) Kyōsantō 4,700,289 7.88 0 3,689,159 6.17 8 8 1.67 Decrease1 Decrease1
Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shakai Minshutō 451,762 0.76 1 1,420,790 2.38 1 2 0.42 Decrease3 Decrease5
People's New Party (PNP) Kokumin Shintō 117,185 0.20 1 70,847 0.12 0 1 0.21 Decrease2 Decrease2
New Party Daichi (NPD) Shintō Daichi 315,604 0.53 0 346,848 0.58 1 1 0.21 Decrease2 Steady0
Happiness Realization Party (HRP) Kōfuku Jitsugentō 102,634 0.10 0 216,150 0.30 0 0 0.00 Steady0 Steady0
Others 62,697 0.28 0 134,781 0.59 0 0 0.00 Steady0 Steady0
Total opposition parties 32,090,906 53.82 49 36,078,957 60.31 101 150 31.25 Decrease180 Decrease249
   Independents 1,006,468 1.69 5 – 5 1.04 Decrease4 Decrease1
Totals 59,626,564 100.00% 300 59,819,888 100.00% 180 480 100.00 Increase1* Steady0
Turnout 59.32% 59.31% *(vacant seats)

Election results for major parties since 1960 [edit]

e • d District vote for candidates by party
Parties 1958[6] 1960[6] 1963[6] 1967[6] 1969[6] 1972[6] 1976[6] 1979[6] 1980[6] 1983[6] 1986[6] 1990[6] 1993[6] 1996[7] 2000[8] 2003[9] 2005[10] 2009[11]
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% 38.6% 41.0% 43.9% 47.8% 38.6%
Japan Socialist Party (JSP) Nihon 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% –
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Minshutō – 10.6% 27.6% 36.7% 36.4% 47.4%
New Frontier Party (NFP) Shinshintō – 18.1% (*) 28.0% –
(New) Komeito Party (NKP) Kōmeitō – 5.4% 10.9% 8.5% 11.0% 9.8% 9.0% 10.1% 9.4% 8.0% 8.1% – 2.0% 1.5% 1.4% 1.1%
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% 12.6% 12.1% 8.1% 7.2% 4.2%
Liberal Party Jiyūtō – 3.4% –
Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shakai Minshutō – 2.2% 3.8% 2.9% 1.5% 1.9%
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%

(*) NFP-precursors Japan Renewal Party (Shinseitō) & Japan New Party (Nihon Shintō)

Note: Before the 1994 electoral reform all districts but one (Amami electoral district 1955–1990) were multi-member constituencies.

e • d Proportional block vote by party
Parties 1996[7] 2000[8] 2003[9] 2005[10] 2009[11]
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Jiyū Minshutō 32.8% 28.3% 35.0% 38.1% 26.7%
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Minshutō 16.1% 25.2% 37.4% 31.0% 42.4%
New Frontier Party (NFP) Shinshintō 28.0% –
New Komeito Party (NKP) Kōmeitō – 13.0% 14.8% 13.3% 11.4%
Japanese Communist Party (JCP) Nihon Kyōsantō 13.1% 11.2% 7.8% 7.2% 7.0%
Liberal Party Jiyūtō – 11.0% –
Social Democratic Party (SDP) Shakai Minshutō 6.4% 9.4% 5.1% 5.5% 4.2%

Members (since 1990) [edit]

Lists of members of the Japanese Parliament
House of Representatives
Flag of Japan
House of Councillors

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ House of Representatives: Strength of the Political Groups in the House (Japanese version that additionally contains a list of Representatives sorted by group: 会派名及び会派別所属議員数)
  2. ^ Yomiuri Shimbun, 2012 House of Representatives general election results, proportional Hokkaidō
  3. ^ msn/Sankei News: 石川知裕氏の辞職許可　衆院本会議
  4. ^ General election results final. Yomiuri Shimbun. 17 December 2012.
  5. ^ Decimals from fractional votes (ambunhyō) rounded to full numbers
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, statistics bureau: 衆議院議員総選挙の党派別当選者数及び得票数（昭和33年～平成5年）
  7. ^ a b Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC/Sōmushō): 第４１回衆議院議員総選挙結果
  8. ^ a b MIC: 第４２回衆議院議員総選挙結果
  9. ^ a b MIC: 衆議院議員総選挙・最高裁判所裁判官国民審査結果調
  10. ^ a b MIC: 平成17年9月11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
  11. ^ a b MIC: 平成21年8月30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

External links [edit]

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