Summary
Okinawa 1st district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan (national legislature). It is located in Okinawa Prefecture and encompasses the city of Naha and parts of Shimajiri District (Kumejima, Tokashiki, Zamami, Aguni, Tonaki, Minamidaitō, Kitadaitō). As of 2016, 270,872 eligible voters were registered in the district.[1]
| Okinawa 1st District | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary constituency for the Japanese House of Representatives | |
 Numbered map of Okinawa Prefecture single-member districts | |
| Prefecture | Okinawa |
| Proportional District | Kyushu |
| Electorate | 270,872 (2016) |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1994 |
| Seats | One |
| Party | Japanese Communist Party |
| Representative | Seiken Akamine |
| Created from | Okinawa's at-large "medium-sized" district |
| Municipalities | Naha and parts of Shimajiri District (Kumejima, Tokashiki, Zamami, Aguni, Tonaki, Minamidaitō, Kitadaitō) |
The district has been represented by Seiken Akamine of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) since the 2014 general election, when he defeated the incumbent member Kōnosuke Kokuba from the Liberal Democratic Party. Akamine is the only JCP politician in the country to currently hold a single-seat constituency.
Background edit
The 1994 electoral reforms split Okinawa's at-large constituency into four single-district constituencies. In the first three elections after the reforms, Okinawa's 1st district was won by Tai'ichi Shiraho of New Frontier Party and later New Kōmeitō (NKP). The district also features several significant voting blocs. The reliable and sizable Soka Gakkai voting bloc in Naha helped to deliver the district to Shiraho in those elections. The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) has also maintained a relatively large share of vote in the district, banking on the urban voter support and local opposition to the US military bases in Okinawa. Another bloc consists of corporate workers that tend to support the LDP.
In the 2014 general election, the district was won by JCP's Seiken Akamine. Akamine's election was a watershed as it marked the first time a JCP candidate managed to win a single-seat constituency since the 1996 general election. This is also only the third constituency JCP has won since the introduction of parallel voting. The anti-base camp aligned to Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga created an alliance behind Akamine to oppose the LDP incumbent at that time, Kōnosuke Kokuba. Kokuba supports the relocation of the US air base in Futenma to Henoko, following the policy of the LDP and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The centre-right vote was split further with the candidacy of former representative Mikio Shimoji. A strong anti-base vote and the split in the centre-right camp delivered the district to Akamine, completing JCP's surge in the election.[2][3]
Akamine retained the district in the 2017 general election despite the JCP losing seats across the country. Akamine managed to keep the anti-base camp solidly behind him, giving him a slightly larger majority than 2014.[4]
List of representatives edit
| Representative | Party | Dates | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tai'ichi Shiraho | NFP | 1996 – 1998 | ||
| NKP | 1998 – 2005 | |||
| Mikio Shimoji | Ind | 2005 – 2007 | ||
| PNP | 2007 – 2012 | |||
| Kōnosuke Kokuba | LDP | 2012 – 2014 | ||
| Seiken Akamine | JCP | 2014 – | ||
Election results edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communist | Seiken Akamine | 61,519 | 42.17 |  2.27
| |
| Liberal Democratic | Kōnosuke Kokuba (elected by PR, endorsed by Kōmeitō) | 54,532 | 37.38 | 1.52
| |
| Independent | Mikio Shimoji | 29,827 | 20.45 |  2.08
| |
| Turnout | 55.89 | 1.47
| |||
| Communist hold | Swing | 0.37
|
|||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communist | Seiken Akamine | 60,605 | 39.90 | 0.08
| |
| Liberal Democratic | Kōnosuke Kokuba (elected by PR, endorsed by Kōmeitō) | 54,468 | 35.86 | 0.73
| |
| Innovation | Mikio Shimoji (elected by PR, endorsed by Kibō) | 34,215 | 22.53 | 1.06
| |
| Happiness Realization | Reiko Shimoji | 2,594 | 1.71 | N/A | |
| Majority | 6,137 | 4.04 | |||
| Turnout | 57.36 | 0.99
| |||
| Communist hold | Swing | 0.41
|
|||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communist | Seiken Akamine (endorsed by SDP, PLP, OSMP, the Greens and Shinfūkai) | 57,935 | 39.82 | 21.43
| |
| Liberal Democratic | Kōnosuke Kokuba (elected by PR, endorsed by Kōmeitō) | 53,241 | 36.59 | 6.48
| |
| Innovation | Mikio Shimoji (elected by PR, endorsed by PGOR) | 34,328 | 23.59 | 7.35
| |
| Majority | 4,694 | 3.33 | |||
| Turnout | 56.37 | ||||
| Communist gain from Liberal Democratic | Swing | 13.97
|
|||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democratic | Kōnosuke Kokuba (endorsed by NKP) | 65,233 | 43.07 | 5.07
| |
| People's New | Mikio Shimoji (endorsed by DPJ) | 46,865 | 30.94 | 15.58
| |
| Communist | Seiken Akamine (elected by PR, endorsed by OSMP) | 27,856 | 18.39 | 4.09
| |
| Restoration | Kunihiro Yasuda (endorsed by YP) | 11,514 | 7.60 | N/A | |
| Majority | 18,368 | 12.13 | |||
| Turnout | |||||
| Liberal Democratic gain from People's New | Swing | 10.33
|
|||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| People's New | Mikio Shimoji (endorsed by DPJ) | 77,152 | 46.52 | 2.75
| |
| Liberal Democratic | Kōnosuke Kokuba (endorsed by NKP) | 63,017 | 38.00 | 2.84
| |
| Communist | Hisako Hokama (endorsed by OSMP) | 23,715 | 14.30 | 0.31
| |
| Happiness Realization | Naruki Taira | 1,958 | 1.18 | ||
| Majority | 14,135 | 8.52 | |||
| People's New hold | Swing | 2.80
|
|||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Mikio Shimoji (endorsed by DPJ and OSMP) | 72,384 | 43.77 | ||
| NK | Tai'ichi Shiraho (endorsed by LDP) | 67,540 | 40.84 | ||
| Communist | Seiken Akamine (elected by PR, endorsed by OSMP) | 23,123 | 13.99 | ||
| Independent | Hideyuki Uehara | 2,307 | 1.40 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NK | Tai'ichi Shiraho (endorsed by LDP and NCP) | 58,330 | 37.0 | ||
| Independent | Mikio Shimoji | 52,374 | 33.3 | ||
| Democratic | Noboru Shimajiri (endorsed by SDP and OSMP) | 27,209 | 17.3 | ||
| Communist | Seiken Akamine (elected by PR, endorsed by OSMP) | 19,528 | 12.4 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NK | Tai'ichi Shiraho (endorsed by LDP and NCP) | 86,255 | 52.6 | ||
| Communist | Seiken Akamine (elected by PR, endorsed by OSMP) | 50,709 | 30.9 | ||
| Liberal League | Kiyotaka Maeda (endorsed by SDP) | 27,168 | 16.6 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Frontier | Tai'ichi Shiraho (endorsed by SDP) | 52,975 | 30.2 | ||
| Communist | Saneyoshi Furuken (elected by PR, endorsed by OSMP) | 47,379 | 27.0 | ||
| Liberal Democratic | Mikio Shimoji (elected by PR) | 44,488 | 25.4 | ||
| Liberal League | Shunshirō Nishime | 23,238 | 13.3 | ||
| New Party Sakigake | Noboru Shimajiri (endorsed by DPJ) | 7,223 | 4.1 | ||
References edit
- ^ Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC): [1] (in Japanese)
- ^ Kyodo News (15 December 2014). "LDP loses heavily in Okinawa". Japan Times. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ Aoki, Mizuho (15 December 2014). "Resurgent JCP has night to remember". Japan Times. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ Jiji Press (3 December 2017). "JCP chief Shii pledges all-out effort to create stronger opposition coalition". Japan Times. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ 開票速報 小選挙区：沖縄- 2021衆議 (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ^ 小選挙区開票速報：沖縄県（定数4） (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ 小選挙区：沖縄県 - 開票速報 - 2014総選挙: 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ 第46回総選挙>小選挙区開票速報：沖縄県 (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ 小選挙区開票結果ー沖縄県１区 (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
- ^ ２００５総選挙>小選挙区開票結果ー沖縄県１区 (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 11 December 2017.