Politics of Kanagawa
Politics of Kanagawa, as in all
Kanagawa is one of the most populous prefectures, second only to neighbouring Tokyo, and the only prefecture to contain three
of Japan.National representation
Kanagawa is currently represented by 18 directly elected Representatives and temporarily seven Councillors (four elected every three years) in the
For the House of Representatives, it is part of the
Under the postwar constitution, Kanagawa initially was represented by four Councillors electing two per election. As most two-member districts, it has often elected one Liberal Democrat and one
Governor
Kanagawa's current governor is former news anchor
Kuroiwa is the sixth elected governor since 1947. Past elected governors of Kanagawa were:
- Iwatarō Uchiyama, 5 terms, 1947–1967,
- Bungo Tsuda, 2 terms, 1967–1975,
- Kazuji Nagasu, 5 terms, 1975–1995,
- Hiroshi Okazawa, 2 terms, 1995–2003,
- Shigefumi Matsuzawa, 2 terms, 2003–2011.
Assembly
The Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly has currently 107 members. They are elected every four years in unified regional elections by single non-transferable vote (in single-member districts identical to first-past-the-post) in 47 electoral districts most of which correspond to the wards of designated cities, independent cities and counties of Kanagawa. In the most recent elections in April 2011, the Liberal Democratic Party remained strongest party with 40 seats, the Democratic Party won 29 and Yoshimi Watanabe's Your Party won 15 seats. Kōmeitō holds 10 assembly seats, the Japanese Communist Party is no longer represented since 2011. One seat held by members of the Kanagawa Network, part of the "network movement", the same national federation of consumer movements as the Tokyo Seikatsusha Network.
The current composition of the assembly is as follows (as of May 15, 2014):[1]
Composition of the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly | |
---|---|
Parliamentary group | Seats |
Liberal Democratic Party | 42 |
Democratic Party – Kanagawa Club
|
27 |
Kōmeitō
|
10 |
Your Party | 10 |
Kenseikai ("Prefectural political assembly") | 6 |
Unity Party, Japan Restoration Party | 6 |
Kanagawa Network | 1 |
Shinsei Kanagawa Club | 1 |
Kenmin mesen no reimei | 1 |
Total including 3 vacant seats | 107 |
The current 106th assembly president is Tokie Furusawa (LDP, Naka county electoral district), the 107th vice president is Takahiro Aihara (Kenseikai, Asao ward).[2][3]
References
- ^ Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly: Members by parliamentary group
- ^ Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly: Introduction of President and Vice President
- ^ Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly: List of presidents and vice presidents since 1879
External links
- Kanagawa Prefectural Government (in Japanese), "Foreign Language" section with basic information in English
- Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly (in Japanese)