1990 Japanese general election

1990 Japanese general election

← 1986 18 February 1990 1993 →
All 512 seats in the House of Representatives 257 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	73.3% (1.9%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Toshiki Kaifu Takako Doi Koshiro Ishida Party Liberal Democratic Socialist Kōmeitō Leader since 8 August 1989 9 September 1986 21 May 1989 Last election 51.06%, 306 seats[a] 17.23%, 85 seats 9.43%, 56 seats Seats won 275 136 45 Seat change 31 51 11 Popular vote 30,315,417 16,025,473 5,242,675 Percentage 46.14% 24.35% 7.98% Swing 3.28pp 7.12pp 1.45pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Tetsuzo Fuwa Eiichi Nagasue Satsuki Eda Party Communist Democratic Socialist Socialist Democratic Leader since 29 May 1989 February 1985 Last election 8.79%, 26 seats 6.44%, 26 seats 0.83%, 4 seats Seats won 16 14 4 Seat change 10 12 Popular vote 5,226,987 3,178,949 566,957 Percentage 7.96% 4.84% 0.86% Swing 0.83pp 1.60pp 0.03pp   Seventh party   PRG Leader Seiichi Tagawa Party Progressive Last election – Seats won 1 Seat change New Popular vote 281,793 Percentage 0.43% Swing New
Prime Minister before election Toshiki Kaifu Liberal Democratic Prime Minister after election Toshiki Kaifu Liberal Democratic

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General elections were held in

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Liberal Democratic Party	30,315,417	46.14	275	–31
	Japan Socialist Party	16,025,473	24.39	136	+51
	Kōmeitō	5,242,675	7.98	45	–11
	Japanese Communist Party	5,226,987	7.96	16	–10
	Democratic Socialist Party	3,178,949	4.84	14	–12
	Socialist Democratic Federation	566,957	0.86	4	0
	Progressive Party	281,793	0.43	1	New
	Other parties	58,536	0.09	0	–
	Independents	4,807,524	7.32	21	+12
Total		65,704,311	100.00	512	0
Valid votes		65,704,311	99.23
Invalid/blank votes		511,595	0.77
Total votes		66,215,906	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		90,322,908	73.31
Source: IPU

By prefecture

Prefecture	Total seats	Seats won
		LDP	JSP	Kōmeitō	JCP	DSP	SDF	PP	Ind.
Aichi	22	11	6	2		2			1
Akita	7	4	2						1
Aomori	7	5	2
Chiba	18	12	5	1
Ehime	9	6	3
Fukui	4	3	1
Fukuoka	19	8	4	4	2		1
Fukushima	12	6	5						1
Gifu	9	6	2	1
Gunma	10	6	3						1
Hiroshima	12	8	3			1
Hokkaido	23	12	7	1	1	1			1
Hyōgo	19	10	4	2					3
Ibaraki	12	8	3	1
Ishikawa	5	4	1
Iwate	8	4	3			1
Kagawa	6	4	2
Kagoshima	10	5	4						1
Kanagawa	20	9	6	4				1
Kōchi	5	2	1	1	1
Kumamoto	10	6	2	1					1
Kyoto	10	4	2	2	1	1
Mie	9	5	2			1			1
Miyagi	9	6	3
Miyazaki	6	3	2			1
Nagano	13	8	4		1
Nagasaki	9	5	2			1			1
Nara	5	2	1	1	1
Niigata	13	8	4						1
Ōita	7	4	2						1
Okayama	10	4	2	2			1		1
Okinawa	5	2	1	1	1
Osaka	27	8	5	7	5	1			1
Saga	5	3	1						1
Saitama	17	8	5	2		1			1
Shiga	5	3	1			1
Shimane	5	3	1						1
Shizuoka	14	10	3	1
Tochigi	10	6	3			1
Tokushima	5	2	2	1
Tokyo	44	18	11	8	3	1	1		2
Tottori	4	2	2
Toyama	6	4	2
Wakayama	6	4	1	1
Yamagata	7	5	1				1
Yamaguchi	9	6	2	1
Yamanashi	5	3	2
Total	512	275	136	45	16	14	4	1	21

Analysis

Although the LDP lost a net total of 25 seats, it still held onto its majority in the House of Representatives with a margin of 19 seats. This was due to the inequitable districting practices in Japan at the time, as individual voters in rural districts tend to both favour the LDP and also be disproportionately influential. However, the LDP did see losses among rural voters in the 1989 elections, and as a result the party pivoted away from their commitment to liberal import policies and back into a more protectionist rhetoric, declaring that "not one grain of foreign rice will be imported into Japan." The LDP also acquiesced by revising the consumption tax law to allow for exceptions; moreover, public resistance to the new tax had slightly decreased since the 1989 Upper House election. Although party leadership tends to have only minor influence on Japanese elections, positive cabinet approval ratings for the LDP bounced back from Noboru Takeshita's low of 10% to the reform-minded Toshiki Kaifu's 33%. In addition, the LDP also made sure to field an ample amount of candidates and to informally support independents, who increased by 12 in this election.^[2]

The clear winner in the elections was the Japan Socialist Party, whose number of seats rose by 51 and whose popular vote rose by 7.12% from the last election. This was the JSP's strongest performance in a general election since 1967, and left it as the only party to gain any seats. Meanwhile, the other three main opposition parties (Komeito, the JCP, and the DSP) lost 11, 10, and 12 seats respectively, and all of them also saw reductions in their popular vote. According to surveys, however, the shift in support for the JSP was more to do with the familiar Japanese tendency to cast protest votes against the LDP rather than expressions of support for all of the opposition's platform. Moreover, the JSP continued to suffer from factional infighting and a relative lack of fund-raising when compared to the LDP, and thus its fortunes would only wind up being in the short-term.^[2]

Notes

References