Japanese general election, 1946

Japanese general election, 1946
Japan
10 April 1946

All 466 seats to the House of Representatives of Japan
234 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Ichirō Hatoyama Chūji Machida Tetsu Katayama
Party Liberal Progressive Socialist
Seats won 141 94 93

Prime Minister before election

Kijūrō Shidehara

Prime Minister

Shigeru Yoshida
Liberal

General elections were held in Japan on 10 April 1946, the first after World War II. Voters had one, two or three votes, depending on how many MPs were elected from their constituency. The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 148 of the 464 seats.[1] Voter turnout was 72.1 percent.

Background

Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara, who had been appointed by the Emperor in October 1945, dissolved the House of Representatives in December 1945. Shidehara had been working with Allied occupation commander Douglas MacArthur to implement a new constitution and other political reforms.

In the months following the war, the Imperial Rule Assistance Association caucus broke up and three major political parties emerged in the Diet, loosely based around the major parties that stood in the 1937 election prior to the war. The Liberal Party was mainly composed of former Rikken Seiyūkai members, while the Progressive Party was mainly composed of former Rikken Minseitō members and the Socialist Party was mainly composed of former Shakai Taishūtō members.

This was the first time Japanese women were allowed to vote. 39 women were elected to office, the largest number elected until the Japanese general election, 2005. On the other hand, Taiwanese and Koreans in Japan had their rights to vote and to run for office suspended.

Following the election, there was a brief attempt to keep the Shidehara cabinet alive by having Shidehara join the Progressive Party, which the other major parties opposed. The Liberals and Progressives agreed to form a government under Liberal leader Ichiro Hatoyama on 2 May, but Hatoyama was promptly purged on 4 May and a new government formed under Foreign Minister Shigeru Yoshida, who officially became Prime Minister on 22 May.

Results

Party Votes % Seats
Liberal Party14,082,57525.4148
Japan Progressive Party11,232,61020.3110
Japan Socialist Party10,069,90718.296
Japan Cooperative Party3,484,8896.345
Japanese Communist Party2,135,7573.86
Other parties6,692,35712.033
Independents7,750,78414.026
Total valid votes55,448,879100464
Invalid/blank ballots482,000
Total ballots26,582,175100464
Source: Nohlen et al.

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p381 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
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