2021 Japanese general election

← 2017 31 October 2021 2024 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 465 seats in theHouse of Representatives 233 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	55.98% (2.30pp; Const. votes) 55.97% (2.29pp; PR votes)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Fumio Kishida Yukio Edano Ichirō Matsui Party LDP CDP Ishin Last election 284 seats 105 seats[a] 11 seats Seats before 276 109 11 Seats won 259 96 41 Seat change 25 9 30 Constituency vote 27,626,235 17,215,621 4,802,793 % and swing 48.08% (0.26pp) 29.96% (0.79pp) 8.36% (5.18pp) Regional vote 19,914,883 11,492,115 8,050,830 % and swing 34.66% (1.38pp) 20.00% (17.24pp) 14.01% (7.94pp)   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Natsuo Yamaguchi Yuichiro Tamaki Kazuo Shii Party Komeito DPP JCP Last election 29 seats Did not exist 12 seats Seats before 29 8 12 Seats won 32 11 10 Seat change 3 New 2 Constituency vote 872,931 1,246,812 2,639,631 % and swing 1.52% (0.02pp) 2.17% (New) 4.59% (4.43pp) Regional vote 7,114,282 2,593,396 4,166,076 % and swing 12.38% (0.13pp) 4.51% (New) 7.25% (0.65pp)
Districts and PR districts, shaded according to winners' vote strength
Prime Minister before election Fumio Kishida LDP ElectedPrime Minister Fumio Kishida LDP

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General elections were held inJapan on 31 October 2021,^[1] as required by theconstitution. Voting took place in allconstituencies in order to electmembers to theHouse of Representatives, thelower house of theNational Diet. As the constitution requires thecabinet to resign in the first Diet session after a general election, the elections will also lead to a newelection for Prime Minister in the Diet, and the appointment of a new cabinet, although ministers may be re-appointed. The election was the first general election of theReiwa era.

The election followed a tumultuous period in Japanese politics which saw the sudden resignation of Prime MinisterShinzo Abe in 2020 due to health issues and the short premiership of his successorYoshihide Suga, who stepped down as leader of the rulingLiberal Democratic Party (LDP) after only about a year in office due to poor approval ratings. The period since theprevious general election in 2017 also saw the consolidation of much of the country's centre-left into a newly strengthenedConstitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and the forming of theleft-wing populist partyReiwa Shinsengumi led by former actorTaro Yamamoto.

The LDP, led by new Prime MinisterFumio Kishida, maintained a comfortable majority despite losing seats.^[2][3] The primary two left-wing opposition parties, the CDP and theJapanese Communist Party, both underperformed expectations and lost seats relative to their standings in the chamber immediately before the election; this occurred despite both parties cooperating in a significant electoral alliance to avoidvote splitting. The CDP's poor results led to the resignation of party leaderYukio Edano shortly after the election. The Osaka-based conservative partyIshin no Kai gained 30 seats, becoming the third-largest party in the chamber.

Following the2017 general election, theLiberal Democratic Party (LDP) continued to find itself in a dominant position as Prime MinisterShinzo Abe led the party to a third consecutive victory, the first for a single Prime Minister since 1953.^[4] While the LDP's strong showing seemed to suggest momentum for Abe's long-held goal of revising the anti-warArticle 9 of the Constitution, the prospect for revision was thwarted due to procedural obstacles in the Diet from opposition parties and the ruling coalition losing its two-thirds majority in theHouse of Councillors in the2019 election.^[5]

Abe's approval ratings suffered in 2018 as several favoritism scandals dominated media coverage. However, he was stillre-elected as President of the LDP in September 2018 and became the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japanese history on 19 November 2019 and the longest-serving consecutive Prime Minister on 24 August 2020.^[6] However, Abe shocked observers when he announced on 28 August 2020 that he would resign the premiership due to a sudden resurgence of hisulcerative colitis.^[7] Chief Cabinet SecretaryYoshihide Suga waselected the next President of the LDP in September 2020 and succeeded Abe as Prime Minister days later.^[8]

Meanwhile, Japan's many opposition parties remained fractured and disunited. TheConstitutional Democratic Party, seeking to establish itself as the primary centre-left opposition party against the LDP, merged with majorities of theDemocratic Party For the People and theSocial Democratic Party as well as several independent lawmakers in late 2020, officially re-organizing as a new party while retaining the same name andYukio Edano as leader.^[9] Tokyo GovernorYuriko Koike's national partyKibō no Tō was dissolved in May 2018 after it merged with theDemocratic Party to form the Democratic Party For the People, while Koike herself was re-elected in a landslide in2020 as an independent.^[10][11] The period since 2017 also saw the creation ofReiwa Shinsengumi, aleft-wing populist party formed by former actorTaro Yamamoto, whose central policy position is abolition of the consumption tax.^[12]

While beginning office relatively popular, Prime Minister Suga's approval ratings gradually worsened due to public dissatisfaction over his handling of theCOVID-19 pandemic, including Japan's slowvaccine rollout compared to the rest of the developed world, and his management of the delayed2020 Tokyo Olympic andParalympic Games.^[13][14] The LDP lost three Diet by-elections in April 2021 and also failed to win an outright majority in theTokyo Metropolitan Assembly election in July despite winning the most seats. Analysts attributed the losses to Suga's low approval ratings.^[15]

When the Olympics were eventually held in July to August 2021, public sentiment rose as Japanese athletes secured a record haul of Olympic medals.^[16] However, this did not translate into an upturn in Suga's personal ratings as the event coincided with a state of emergency while COVID-19 cases in Japan continued to surge from the Delta variant.^[17] By the time theTokyo Olympics ended, the country experienced more than a million cases.^[18][19] In an Asahi Shimbun poll taken at the end of the Olympics, the Cabinet's approval ratings fell to an all-time low of 28%, even though 56% of the public agreed that hosting the Olympics was the right decision^[20] signifying concern over the government's inability to handle the COVID-19 pandemic.^[21] As a result, the government's pandemic response is likely to be one of the election issues.^[22]

Although Suga claimed there is no evidence that the Olympics contributed to a surge in daily cases in Tokyo and other parts of Japan, experts, including the government's chief medical adviser believe the Games undermined official messaging on virus rules and encouraged people to become complacent.^[23]

Following the Olympics, speculation rose that several LDP lawmakers, such as former ministersSanae Takaichi,^[24]Seiko Noda,^[25] 2020 leadership candidateFumio Kishida^[25] and party policy chiefHakubun Shimomura^[26] were preparing to run for the LDP leadership against Suga when his term as party president ends in September, in the lead up to the election.^[24] The defeat of candidateHachiro Okonogi, who is Suga's associate, in theYokohama mayoral election on 22 August added pressure on the prime minister and increased speculation about his political future.^[25]

On 3 September Suga announced that he would not run for re-election for the LDP leadership citing low approval ratings, paving the way for a new LDP leader and Prime Minister to take the party into the general election.^[27] On 29 September, former foreign minister andcentrist candidateFumio Kishida defeated three other candidates and became the new leader of the LDP.^[28] He was elected by the Diet as the 100th Prime Minister of Japan on 4 October.^[29]

On 8 September theConstitutional Democratic Party (CDP),Social Democratic Party (SDP),Japanese Communist Party (JCP) andReiwa Shinsengumi formed a joint policy platform and an anti-LDP civil coalition for the upcoming election.^[30] The platform covered six areas: constitutionalism, measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, reducing economic disparities, transitioning to a decarbonized society, gender equality and government transparency.^[31] Policies in the platform included:

• Opposition to constitutional revision proposed by the LDP that would expand government powers
• Cuts in consumption tax rate and increasing tax burden on the wealthy
• Shutting down nuclear power plants and opposition for a planned integrated resort and casino development proposals
• New inquiries into a series of political scandals involving the LDP, including scandals of former Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Yoshihide Suga^[32]

As part of the agreement, members of the four parties involved withdrew from running in several of the single-seat constituencies to avoidvote splitting. The Japanese Communist Party withdrew 22 candidates in total, with only 106 candidates running for the JCP in total. This number was the lowest amount of candidates fielded by the JCP since the first election following Japan'selectoral reform in 1996.^[33] Taro Yamamoto from Reiwa Shinsengumi withdrew from his race in the single memberTokyo 8th district for the CDP's Harumi Yoshida, choosing instead to run in theTokyo PR block.^[34] Reiwa Shinsengumi withdrew 7 candidates to avoid vote splitting amongst the opposition, accounting for 40% of its planned slate of candidates.^[35]

On 4 October the regional Tokyo-based political partyTomin First no Kai announced that it had created a new national party called First no Kai.^[36] The party said that it planned to enter candidates for single-seat constituencies in Tokyo, and said that while currentGovernor of TokyoYuriko Koike will not be running, she will cooperate with the party.^[37] First no Kai will be led byChiharu Araki, a member of theTokyo Metropolitan Assembly who is also leader of Tomin First no Kai.^[38][39][40]

However, on 15 October the party said they would not be fielding any candidates for the election and would concentrate on the next election instead.^[41] Analysts believed that Kishida's bringing forward of the election gave little time for recruitment of candidates, thus leading to the decision to sit out this election.^[42]

Under the post-occupation interpretation of Article 7 of theConstitution, the cabinet may instruct the Emperor to dissolve the House of Representatives for asnap election. Elections must be held within 40 days after dissolution.^[43] The only time since theSecond World War that the House of Representatives was not dissolved before the end of its term was in1976. If the House of Representatives completes a full four-year term, the election must be held within 30 days before that,^[44] unless the Diet is invoked, in session or about to be closed at the time. The previous House of Representatives' term ended on 21 October.^[45]

An extraordinary session of the National Diet was necessary in early October to elect the new prime minister. Depending on when that Diet session closed and if and when the new cabinet dissolved the House of Representatives, possible election dates ranged from late October to 14 November without dissolution or up to 28 November with dissolution. Since the election was held in late October, the 2021 election was the first in post-war history to be held not only at, but after the actual end of term (21 October).^[46][47]

On 4 October the newly elected prime ministerFumio Kishida scheduled the election for 31 October, with dissolution of the House of Representatives on 14 October, the final day of the extraordinary Diet session and campaigning set to begin on 19 October.^[45]

With the resignation ofShinzo Abe in 2020 from his position as prime minister due to health issues, speculation rose of the possibility that a snap election would be held before the end of the full term, but this in fact did not happen.^[48]Before the resignation announcement of Yoshihide Suga in 2021, the government did consider a plan to hold a general election on 17 October, several days before the expiration of the four-year term for House of Representatives members, government sources said on 30 August.^[49]

The 465 seats of theHouse of Representatives are contested viaparallel voting: 289 members are elected in single-member constituencies usingfirst-past-the-post voting, while 176 members are elected in 11 multi-member constituencies viaparty list proportional representation. Candidates are allowed to stand in a constituency and be present in the party list, such that if they lose their constituency election, they may still be elected in the proportionally allocated seats.

This article is part of a series about Fumio Kishida
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TheLDP manifesto, titled "Create a new era together with you" was released on 12 October and included:^[50][51]

• Wealth redistribution to revive the Japanese economy and empowering the middle class
• Tax breaks for corporations willing to raise wages
• Advance administrative reforms to facilitate digitalization
• Massive investment in science and technology, and funds for university research
• Secure robust supply chains for critical materials, such as rare earths
• Electronic COVID-19 vaccine passports
• Continued development of nuclear fusion power generation, and expansion of renewable energy to achievecarbon neutrality by 2050
• Expanding support for small and medium businesses hit by the COVID-19 pandemic
• Offer subsidies for enterprises if they move into new industries
• Constitutional amendment including theproposed Japanese constitutional referendum to specifically mentioning the Self-Defense Forces in Article 9 of the Constitution and establishing a provision granting the Cabinet stronger powers in an emergency
• Raising Japan's defense budget “above two percent” of gross domestic product (GDP) and enhancing Japan's defense capabilities
• SupportTaiwan's bid to join theCPTPP agreement andWHO observer status
• Promoting further nuclear disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation^[52]

Observers commented that Prime Minister Kishida's promises during his LDP leadership campaign were missing from the manifesto, and the manifesto was heavily influenced by LDP's conservative figures likeSanae Takaichi,Akira Amari and ex-prime ministerShinzo Abe.^[51]

On 13 October, theCDPJ added into its manifesto:^[53][54]

• Allowing couples to adopt different surnames
• Equality laws for LGBTQ people
• Laws recognising same-sex marriage
• Supplementary budget worth more than ¥30 trillion and cash handouts of ¥120,000 to low-income individuals
• Temporary cuts in consumption tax rate from 10% to 5%
• Changing the corporate tax into a progressive system
• Raising the ceiling for income tax on rich individuals
• Raise capital gains tax to 25% by 2023 in principle and eventually to 30%
• Realizing carbon neutrality without relying on nuclear power, and 100% renewable energy by 2050
• Expanding public support for housing, education, health care, nurseries and elderly care
• Better conditions for medical professionals by a ¥200,000 salary bonus, increasing staff at public health centers and expanding PCR testing
• Revision to theU.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement^[52]
• Halt construction work related to therelocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma inOkinawa^[52]
• Enter Japan intoTreaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as an observer^[52]

Komeito policies included:^[52]

• Enter Japan intoTreaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as an observer
• Expanded subsidies to raise the wages of employees working at small businesses
• Resume the Go To Travel domestic tourism stimulus program
• No building of new nuclear power plants and decarbonization through thermal power
• Allowing couples to adopt different surnames

On 12 October theJCP announced its manifesto, including the following proposals:^[54]

• Cash handouts of ¥100,000 to middle-income households
• Raise the minimum wage, currently averaging at ¥930, to ¥1,500 per hour
• Lower the consumption tax to 5%
• Increase the existing government target of 46% cuts in carbon emissions by fiscal year 2030, to 50% and 60%

TheNippon Ishin no Kai manifesto featured pledges including:^[55][56]

• Reform of social insurance and pension system, with the introduction of auniversal basic income of ¥60,000 per month, with additional supplements for non-coupled elderly
• Reform of income tax andsocial insurance fee, replacing the current system with a two-tiered income tax
• Deregulation of the workforce, allowing for compensated dismissals
• Reform of thesocial medical insurance system from age-based subsidy rates to income-based cost subsidies
• Universal access to free education from preschool to university, written within the constitution
• Introduction of the "2:1 rule", requiring two pieces of regulation to be removed per introduction of any new industrial regulation
• Deregulation of protected industries such as ridesharing, finance and agriculture
• Separate surnames for married couples
• Same-sex marriage legalisation
• Maintaining current emission reduction targets with consideration ofcarbon pricing schemes
• Legislating Osaka as the vice-capital of Japan
• Push for further devolution with merger of prefectures into states (dōshūsei), while allocating the consumption tax as a regional tax
• Constitutional amendments including: Universal free education, devolution, and the establishment of constitutional courts
• Maintainingagnate succession of the Imperial throne while considering re-royalisation of former Imperial household members.
• Repealing the 1%GDP cap on defence spending and the establishment of a national intelligence organisation
• Promotion of free trade, especially within the Asia-pacific region
• Add hospital capacity for COVID-19 treatment^[57]
• Temporary cuts in consumption tax rate from 10% to 5%, with tax rates set to 8% after two years^[58]
• 30% reduction in diet members, and a 30% cut in member's compensation
• Contributions reform prohibiting corporate and organisational donations to political parties and candidates
• Establishment of a public documents bureau, digitalisation of all public document, and maintaining edit records through utilisation ofblockchain technology

This section is an excerpt fromOpinion polling for the 2021 Japanese general election § Graphical summary.[edit]

The charts below depict party identification polling for the next Japanese general election using a 15-poll moving average.

Opposition parties candidates Governing coalition candidates Nippon Ishin no Kai candidates Constitutional Democratic candidates Democratic Party For the People candidates Japanese Communist candidates Social Democratic Party, Reiwa Reiwa Shinsengumi, and opposition block endorsed independent candidates NHK Party candidates

Liberal Democratic Party, PR vote share Constitutional Democratic Party, PR vote share Nippon Ishin no Kai, PR vote share Kōmeitō, PR vote share Japanese Communist Party, PR vote share Democratic Party For the People, PR vote share Reiwa Shinsengumi, PR vote share

Many polls had predicted a weakened LDP or even a complete loss of government control in the elections,^[60] with one poll byThe Japan Times suggesting the party would lose around 40 seats. Though the LDP did lose 25 seats compared to the previous elections, they comfortably maintained their single-party majority in the Diet.^[61][62]

The opposition coalition of CDP, JCP, SDP and Reiwa Shinsengumi failed to increase its seat share, suffering a net loss of thirteen seats compared to the outgoing parliament. The CDP itself remained the largest opposition party, finishing second with 96 seats; although this marked an increase on the 55 seats won by the original CDP in the 2017 elections, the party had held 109 seats going into the elections following the merger with theDemocratic Party For the People. The JCP lost two seats going from 12 to 10, the SDP kept its one constituency seat in Okinawa, and Reiwa Shinsengumi increased its seats from one prior to the election to three.

The Osaka-based Nippon Ishin no Kai saw a strong third-place finish with 41 seats, a net gain of 30. The party won all seats in Osaka prefecture, except for four where they did not stand a candidate. The party also finished first in the Kinki Proportional Block.^[63]

Party		Proportional			Constituency			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Liberal Democratic Party	19,914,883	34.66	72	27,626,235	48.08	187	259	−25
	Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan	11,492,095	20.00	39	17,215,621	29.96	57	96	New
	Nippon Ishin no Kai	8,050,830	14.01	25	4,802,793	8.36	16	41	+30
	Komeito	7,114,282	12.38	23	872,931	1.52	9	32	+3
	Japanese Communist Party	4,166,076	7.25	9	2,639,631	4.59	1	10	−1
	Democratic Party For the People	2,593,396	4.51	5	1,246,812	2.17	6	11	New
	Reiwa Shinsengumi	2,215,648	3.86	3	248,280	0.43	0	3	New
	Social Democratic Party	1,018,588	1.77	0	313,193	0.55	1	1	−1
	NHK Party	796,788	1.39	0	150,542	0.26	0	0	New
	Shiji Seitō Nashi	46,142	0.08	0				0	0
	Japan First Party	33,661	0.06	0	9,449	0.02	0	0	New
	Yamato Party	16,970	0.03	0	15,091	0.03	0	0	New
	New Party to Strengthen Corona Countermeasures by Change of Government	6,620	0.01	0				0	New
	Kunimori Conservative Party				29,306	0.05	0	0	New
	Love Earth Party				5,350	0.01	0	0	New
	Nippon Spirits Party				4,552	0.01	0	0	0
	Reform Future Party				3,698	0.01	0	0	New
	Renewal Party				2,750	0.00	0	0	New
	Party for a Successful Japan				1,630	0.00	0	0	New
	Independents				2,269,168	3.95	12	12	−10
Total		57,465,979	100.00	176	57,457,032	100.00	289	465	0
Valid votes		57,465,979	97.58		57,457,032	97.55
Invalid/blank votes		1,425,366	2.42		1,443,227	2.45
Total votes		58,891,345	100.00		58,900,259	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		105,224,103	55.97		105,224,103	55.98
Source:Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

The results were disappointing for Japan's left-wing opposition parties, who had sought to capitalize on the high disapproval ratings ofLDP administrations in 2020–2021. The two largest opposition parties, theCDP and theJCP, both lost seats compared to the outgoing parliament, despite their unified candidate agreement and joint policy platform.^[64] CDP leaderYukio Edano announced two days after the election that he would resign as leader following the party's performance, triggering aleadership election.^[65]

The right-wing populistNippon Ishin no Kai gained 30 seats, receiving strong support in its home region ofOsaka.^[63] Ishin no Kai became the third-largest party in the chamber, which was seen by observers as a sign of voter dissatisfaction with both the ruling coalition and traditional opposition parties.^[66]

• Proposed Japanese constitutional referendum

• Pekkanen, Robert J.; Reed, Steven R.; Smith, Daniel M. (eds.). 2022.Japan Decides 2021: The Japanese General Election. Springer.

• Media related toJapanese general election, 2021 at Wikimedia Commons

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