1955 Japanese general election

Summary

General elections were held in Japan on 27 February 1955. The result was a victory for the Japan Democratic Party, which won 185 of the 467 seats.[1] Voter turnout was 76%.

1955 Japanese general election

← 1953 27 February 1955 1958 →

All 467 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan
234 seats needed for a majority
Turnout75.83% (Increase1.62pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Ichirō Hatoyama Taketora Ogata Mosaburō Suzuki
Party Democratic Liberal Left Socialist
Seats won 185 112 89
Seat change New Decrease87 Increase17
Popular vote 13,536,044 9,849,458 5,683,312
Percentage 36.57% 26.61% 15.35%
Swing New Decrease12.34pp Increase2.30pp

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Jōtarō Kawakami Sanzō Nosaka
Party Right Socialist Communist
Seats won 67 2
Seat change Increase1 Increase1
Popular vote 5,129,594 733,121
Percentage 13.86% 1.98%
Swing Increase0.34pp Increase0.08pp


Prime Minister before election

Ichirō Hatoyama
Democratic

Prime Minister after election

Ichirō Hatoyama
Democratic

On 15 November 1955, the Japan Democratic Party and the Liberal Party combined as the modern Liberal Democratic Party, which ruled Japan continuously until 1993. The Rightist Socialist Party of Japan and the Leftist Socialist Party of Japan also merged to form the Japan Socialist Party, which was Japan's largest opposition party in the 1955 system.

Results edit

 
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Democratic Party13,536,04436.57185New
Liberal Party9,849,45826.61112–87
Left Socialist Party of Japan5,683,31215.3589+17
Right Socialist Party of Japan5,129,59413.8667+1
Japanese Communist Party733,1211.982+1
Labourers and Farmers Party357,6110.974–1
Other parties496,6141.342
Independents1,229,0823.326–5
Total37,014,836100.00467+1
Valid votes37,014,83699.14
Invalid/blank votes319,4990.86
Total votes37,334,335100.00
Registered voters/turnout49,235,37575.83
Source: Oscarsson, Masumi

By prefecture edit

Prefecture Total
seats
Seats won
DP LP LSPJ RSPJ LFP JCP Others Ind.
Aichi 19 6 6 6 1
Akita 8 5 1 2
Aomori 7 5 1 1
Chiba 13 7 3 2 1
Ehime 9 3 3 2 1
Fukui 4 1 2 1
Fukuoka 19 4 4 6 5
Fukushima 12 3 3 1 4 1
Gifu 9 4 3 2
Gunma 10 6 1 3
Hiroshima 12 5 4 1 2
Hokkaido 22 8 5 6 1 1 1
Hyōgo 18 9 1 3 5
Ibaraki 12 6 3 1 1 1
Ishikawa 6 3 2 1
Iwate 8 3 3 1 1
Kagawa 6 3 1 1 1
Kagoshima 11 5 3 2 1
Kanagawa 13 6 1 3 3
Kōchi 5 1 2 1 1
Kumamoto 10 3 4 2 1
Kyoto 10 4 2 3 1
Mie 9 5 2 2
Miyagi 9 3 2 1 3
Miyazaki 6 1 4 1
Nagano 13 5 2 2 3 1
Nagasaki 9 3 3 2 1
Nara 5 1 2 1 1
Niigata 15 5 5 4 1
Ōita 7 4 1 1 1
Okayama 10 4 3 2 1
Osaka 19 4 3 4 5 2 1
Saga 5 1 2 2
Saitama 13 3 5 4 1
Shiga 5 2 1 1 1
Shimane 5 2 1 1 1
Shizuoka 14 4 6 3 1
Tochigi 10 4 3 1 2
Tokushima 5 3 1 1
Tokyo 27 14 1 6 6
Tottori 4 2 1 1
Toyama 6 4 1 1
Wakayama 6 3 1 2
Yamagata 8 3 3 2
Yamaguchi 9 3 2 2 2
Yamanashi 5 2 1 1 1
Total 467 185 112 89 67 4 2 2 6

References edit

  1. ^ Nohlen D, Grotz F, & Hartmann C (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p381 ISBN 0-19-924959-8