More Info:
At stake in this election:
- 480 seats in the House of Representatives (Shugi-in)
Description of government structure:
- Chief of State: Emperor AKIHITO
- Head of Government: Prime Minister Junichiro KOIZUMI
- Assembly: Japan has a bicameral Diet (Kokkai) consisting of the House of Councillors (Sangi-in) with 242 seats and the House of Representatives (Shugi-in) with 480 seats.
Description of electoral system:
- The Emperor is hereditary head of state.
- In the House of Councillors (Sangi-in), 98 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 6-year terms and 144 members are elected in multi-member constituencies to serve 6-year terms. In the House of Representatives (Shugi-in), 300 members are elected in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 180 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 4-year terms.
Main parties in the electoral race:
- Party: Social Democratic Party of Japan (SDP) / Shakai Minshuto
Leader: Takako DOI
Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 6
Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 19 - Party: Japan Communist Party (JCP) / Nihon Kyosanto
Leader: Tetsuzo FUWA
Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 9
Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 20 - Party: New Clean Government Party / New Komeito
Leader: Takenori KANZAKI
Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 34
Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 31 - Party: Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) / Minshuto****
Leader: Yukio HATOYAMA
Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 177
Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 127 - Party: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
Leader: Junichiro KOIZUMI
Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 237
Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 233 - Party: New Conservative Party (NCP) / Hoshu Shinto
Leader: Hiroshi KUMAGI
Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 4
Seats won in last House of Representatives election: 7 - Party: Others
Leader: N/A
Seats won in this House of Representatives election: 17
Seats won in last House of Representatives election: N/A
**** The Liberal Party, which won 22 seats in the 2000 election, recently merged with the Democratic Party (DPJ).
Last Parliamentary election:
- Last parliamentary elections were held on July 29, 2001.
Population and number of registered voters:
- Population: 127,214,499 (July 2005 est.)
- Registered Voters: 100,492,328 ( 2000 est.)