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House of Representatives 衆議院 Shūgiin | |
|---|---|
| 221st Session of the National Diet (scheduled) | |
![]() | |
| Type | |
| Type | of theNational Diet |
| Leadership | |
Vacant since 23 January 2026 (House dissolved) | |
Vacant since 23 January 2026 (House dissolved) | |
Sanae Takaichi, LDP since 21 October 2025 | |
Leader of the Opposition | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 465 |
Political groups | Government (315)
Supported by (36)
Opposition (108) Unaffiliated (6)
|
| Committees | 17 committees |
Length of term | Up to 4 years |
| Salary | Speaker:¥2,170,000/m Vice Speaker:¥1,584,000/m Members:¥1,294,000/m |
| Elections | |
| Parallel voting: First-past-the-post voting (289 seats) Party-list proportional representation (176 seats) | |
First election | 1 July 1890 |
Last election | 8 February 2026 |
Next election | By 8 February 2030 |
| Meeting place | |
| Chamber of the House of Representatives | |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheHouse of Representatives (衆議院,Shūgiin;Japanese pronunciation:[ɕɯː.ɡʲiꜜ.iɴ,-ŋʲiꜜ-][1]) is thelower house of theNational Diet ofJapan. TheHouse of Councillors is theupper house.The composition of the House is established byArticle 41 [ja] andArticle 42 [ja] of theConstitution of Japan.[2] The House of Representatives has 465 members, elected for a four-year term. Of these, 176 members are elected from 11 multi-member constituencies by aparty-list system ofproportional representation, and 289 are elected from single-member constituencies.
The overall voting system used to elect the House of Representatives is aparallel system, a form ofsemi-proportional representation. Under a parallel system, the allocation of list seats does not take into account the outcome in the single seat constituencies. Therefore, the overall allocation of seats in the House of Representatives is not fully proportional, to the advantage of larger parties.
The House of Representatives is the more powerful of the two houses, able to override vetoes on bills imposed by the House of Councillors with a two-thirds majority.[3][4][5]
Themost recent election for the House of Representatives was held on February 8, 2026, in which theLiberal Democratic Party won a super-majority of seats, over 316; in theprevious election, they had failed to reach a majority of 233 seats, instead winning 191.
The House of Representatives has several powers not given to the House of Councillors. If a bill is passed by thelower house (the House of Representatives) but is voted down by theupper house (theHouse of Councillors) the House of Representatives can override the decision of the House of Councillors by a two-thirds vote in the affirmative. However, in the case oftreaties, thebudget, and the selection of the prime minister, the House of Councillors can only delay passage, but not block the legislation. As a result, the House of Representatives is considered the more powerful house.
Members of the House of Representatives, who are elected to a maximum of four years, sit for a shorter term than members of the House of Councillors, who are elected to full six-year terms. The lower house can also be dissolved by the Prime Minister or the passage of a nonconfidence motion, while the House of Councillors cannot be dissolved. Thus the House of Representatives is considered to be more sensitive to public opinion, and is termed the "lower house".
While the legislative term is nominally 4 years, early elections for the lower house are very common, and the median lifespan of postwar legislatures has in practice been around 3 years.
| Parliamentary groups/caucuses | Parties | Seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democratic Party / Assembly of Independents Jiyūminshutō・Mushozoku no Kai | Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Independents | 316 | ||
| Centrist Reform Alliance Chūdō Kaikaku Rengō | Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) Komeito | 49 | ||
| Nippon Ishin no Kai Nippon Ishin no Kai | Nippon Ishin no Kai | 36 | ||
| Democratic Party for the People / Independent Club Kokumin Minshutō・Mushozoku Kurabu | Democratic Party For the People (DPFP) | 28 | ||
| Sanseitō Sanseitō | Sanseitō | 15 | ||
| Team Mirai Chīmu Mirai | Team Mirai | 11 | ||
| Japanese Communist Party Nihon Kyōsantō | Japanese Communist Party (JCP) | 4 | ||
| Reiwa Shinsengumi Reiwa Shinsengumi | Reiwa Shinsengumi | 1 | ||
| Tax Cuts Japan and Yukoku Alliance Genzei Nippon Yūkoku Rengō | Tax Cuts Japan and Yukoku Alliance | 1 | ||
| Independents(not member of a caucus) Mushozoku | Independents(not member of a party) | 4 | ||
| Total | 465 | |||
For a list of majoritarian members and proportional members from Hokkaidō, see theList of members of the Diet of Japan.
| Party | Proportional | Constituency | Total seats | +/– | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | ||||
| Liberal Democratic Party | 21,026,139 | 36.72 | 67 | 27,710,493 | 49.09 | 249 | 316 | +125 | |
| Centrist Reform Alliance | 10,438,801 | 18.23 | 42 | 12,209,642 | 21.63 | 7 | 49 | –123 | |
| Democratic Party For the People | 5,572,951 | 9.73 | 20 | 4,243,282 | 7.52 | 8 | 28 | 0 | |
| Japan Innovation Party | 4,943,330 | 8.63 | 16 | 3,742,161 | 6.63 | 20 | 36 | –2 | |
| Sanseitō | 4,260,620 | 7.44 | 15 | 3,924,223 | 6.95 | 0 | 15 | +12 | |
| Team Mirai | 3,813,749 | 6.66 | 11 | 156,853 | 0.28 | 0 | 11 | New | |
| Japanese Communist Party | 2,519,807 | 4.40 | 4 | 2,283,885 | 4.05 | 0 | 4 | –4 | |
| Reiwa Shinsengumi | 1,672,499 | 2.92 | 1 | 255,496 | 0.45 | 0 | 1 | -8 | |
| Conservative Party of Japan | 1,455,563 | 2.54 | 0 | 97,753 | 0.17 | 0 | 0 | –3 | |
| Tax Cuts Japan and Yukoku Alliance | 814,874 | 1.42 | 0 | 354,617 | 0.63 | 1 | 1 | New | |
| Social Democratic Party | 728,602 | 1.27 | 0 | 148,666 | 0.26 | 0 | 0 | –1 | |
| Consideration the Euthanasia System | 13,014 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Independent Alliance [ja] | 16,829 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
| Nihon Yamato Party | 15,213 | 0.03 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
| Japan Liberal Party | 12,885 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
| The Path to Rebirth [ja;ru] | 12,492 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
| First Star | 2,686 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
| World Peace Party | 2,424 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
| Future Progressive Party | 2,068 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
| Nuclear Fusion Party | 916 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | New | ||||
| Party of the Heart | 795 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Independents | 1,253,346 | 2.22 | 4 | 4 | –8 | ||||
| Total | 57,259,949 | 100.00 | 176 | 56,446,725 | 100.00 | 289 | 465 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 57,259,949 | 98.62 | 54,446,726 | 97.12 | |||||
| Invalid/blank votes | 799,769 | 1.38 | 1,614,994 | 2.88 | |||||
| Total votes | 58,059,718 | 100.00 | 56,061,720 | 100.00 | |||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 103,211,223 | 56.25 | 103,211,224 | 54.32 | |||||
| Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications[8] | |||||||||
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| Election | Total seats | Composition | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st (1890) | 300 |
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| 2nd (1892) |
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| 3rd (Mar. 1894) |
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| 4th (Sep. 1894) |
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| 5th (Mar. 1898) |
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| 6th (Aug. 1898) |
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| 7th (1902) | 376 |
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| 8th (1903) |
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| 9th (1904) | 379 |
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| 10th (1908) |
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| 11th (1912) | 381 |
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| 12th (1915) |
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| 13th (1917) |
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| 14th (1920) | 464 |
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| 15th (1924) |
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| 16th (1928) | 466 |
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| 17th (1930) |
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| 18th (1932) |
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| 19th (1936) |
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| 20th (1937) |
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| 21st (1942) |
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| Election | Total seats | Composition | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22nd (1946)[a] | 466 |
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| 23rd (1947)[a] |
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| 24th (1949)[a] |
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| 25th (1952) |
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| 26th (1953) |
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| 27th (1955) | 467 |
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| Election | Total seats | Composition | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28th (1958) | 467 |
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| 29th (1960) |
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| 30th (1963) |
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| 31st (1967) | 486 |
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| 32nd (1969) |
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| 33rd (1972) | 491 |
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| 34th (1976) | 511 |
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| 35th (1979) |
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| 36th (1980) |
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| 37th (1983) |
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| 38th (1986) | 512 |
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| 39th (1990) |
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| 40th (1993) | 511 |
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| 41st (1996) | 500 |
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| 42nd (2000) | 480 |
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| 43rd (2003) |
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| 44th (2005) |
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| 45th (2009) |
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| 46th (2012) |
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| 47th (2014) | 475 |
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| 48th (2017) | 465 |
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| 49th (2021) |
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| 50th (2024) |
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| 51st (2026) |
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Shaded
Note that the composition of the ruling coalition may change between lower house elections, e.g. after upper house elections. Parties who vote with the government in the Diet, but are not part of the cabinet (e.g. SDP & NPH after the 1996 election) are not shaded.
| Parties | Segment | 1996[9] | 2000[10] | 2003[11] | 2005[12] | 2009[13] | 2012 | 2014 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total seats | 500 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 480 | 475 | 465 | |
| Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)Jiyū Minshutō | FPTP | 38.6% | 41.0% | 43.9% | 47.8% | 38.6% | 43.0% | 48.1% | 48.21% |
| 169 | 177 | 168 | 219 | 64 | 237 | 223[14] | 226 | ||
| PR | 32.8% | 28.3% | 35.0% | 38.1% | 26.7% | 27.6% | 33.1% | 33.28% | |
| 70 | 56 | 69 | 77 | 55 | 57 | 68 | 66 | ||
| Total seats | 239 | 233 | 237 | 296 | 119 | 294 | 291 | 284 | |
| Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP)Rikken Minshutō | FPTP | – | 8.75% | ||||||
| 18 | |||||||||
| PR | 19.88% | ||||||||
| 37 | |||||||||
| Total seats | 55 | ||||||||
| Party of HopeKibō no Tō | FPTP | – | 20.64% | ||||||
| 18 | |||||||||
| PR | 17.36% | ||||||||
| 32 | |||||||||
| Total seats | 50 | ||||||||
| Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)Minshutō (1996–2014) Democratic Party (DP)Minshintō (2017) | FPTP | 10.6% | 27.6% | 36.7% | 36.4% | 47.4% | 22.8% | 22.5% | no party nominations, ≈14 members elected |
| 17 | 80 | 105 | 52 | 221 | 27 | 38 | |||
| PR | 16.1% | 25.2% | 37.4% | 31.0% | 42.4% | 15.9% | 18.3% | ||
| 35 | 47 | 72 | 61 | 87 | 30 | 35 | |||
| Total seats | 52 | 127 | 177 | 113 | 308 | 57 | 73 | ||
| Japan Restoration Party (JRP)Nippon Ishin no Kai (2012) Japan Innovation Party (JIP)Ishin no Tō (2014) | FPTP | – | 11.6% | 8.2% | 3.18% | ||||
| 14 | 11 | 3 | |||||||
| PR | 20.3% | 15.7% | 6.07% | ||||||
| 40 | 30 | 8 | |||||||
| Total seats | 54 | 41 | 11 | ||||||
| (New) Komeito (K/NK/NKP/CGP/NCGP/etc.)Kōmeitō | FPTP | – | 2.0% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.1% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 1.5% |
| 7 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 8 | |||
| PR | 13.0% | 14.8% | 13.3% | 11.4% | 11.8% | 13.7% | 12.51% | ||
| 24 | 25 | 23 | 21 | 22 | 26 | 21 | |||
| Total seats | 31 | 34 | 31 | 21 | 31 | 35 | 29 | ||
| Japanese Communist Party (JCP)Nihon Kyōsantō | FPTP | 12.6% | 12.1% | 8.1% | 7.2% | 4.2% | 7.8% | 13.3% | 9.02% |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| PR | 13.1% | 11.2% | 7.8% | 7.2% | 7.0% | 6.1% | 11.4% | 7.9% | |
| 24 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 20 | 11 | ||
| Total seats | 26 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 12 | |
| Social Democratic Party (SDP)Shakai Minshutō | FPTP | 2.2% | 3.8% | 2.9% | 1.5% | 1.9% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 1.15% |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| PR | 6.4% | 9.4% | 5.1% | 5.5% | 4.2% | 2.3% | 2.5% | 1.69% | |
| 11 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total seats | 15 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| New Frontier Party (NFP)Shinshintō (1996) Liberal PartyJiyūtō (2000) Tomorrow Party of Japan (TPJ)Nippon Mirai no Tō (2012) People's Life Party (PLP)Seikatsu no Tō (2014) Liberal Party (LP)Jiyūtō (2017) | FPTP | 28.0% | 3.4% | – | 5.0% | 1.0% | no party nominations, 2 members elected | ||
| 96 | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| PR | 28.0% | 11.0% | 5.7% | 1.9% | |||||
| 60 | 18 | 7 | 0 | ||||||
| Total seats | 156 | 22 | 9 | 2 | |||||
| Your Party (YP)Minna no Tō | FPTP | – | 0.8% | 4.7% | – | ||||
| 2 | 4 | ||||||||
| PR | 4.2% | 8.7% | |||||||
| 3 | 14 | ||||||||
| Total seats | 5 | 19 | |||||||
| Conservative PartyHoshutō (2000) New Conservative PartyHoshu Shintō (2003) | FPTP | – | 2.0% | 1.3% | – | ||||
| 7 | 4 | ||||||||
| PR | 0.4% | – | |||||||
| 0 | – | ||||||||
| Total seats | 7 | 4 | |||||||
| New Party Harbinger (NPH)Shintō Sakigake | FPTP | 1.3% | – | ||||||
| 2 | |||||||||
| PR | 1.0% | ||||||||
| 0 | |||||||||
| Total seats | 2 | ||||||||
| Parties | 1958[15] | 1960[15] | 1963[15] | 1967[15] | 1969[15] | 1972[15] | 1976[15] | 1979[15] | 1980[15] | 1983[15] | 1986[15] | 1990[15] | 1993[15] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total seats | 467 | 467 | 467 | 486 | 486 | 491 | 511 | 511 | 511 | 511 | 512 | 512 | 511 |
| Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)Jiyū Minshutō | 57.8% | 57.6% | 54.7% | 48.8% | 47.6% | 46.8% | 41.8% | 44.6% | 47.9% | 48.9% | 49.4% | 46.1% | 36.7% |
| 287 | 296 | 283 | 277 | 288 | 271 | 249 | 248 | 284 | 250 | 300 | 275 | 223 | |
| Japan Socialist Party (JSP)Nippon Shakaitō | 32.9% | 27.6% | 29.0% | 27.9% | 21.4% | 21.9% | 20.7% | 19.7% | 19.3% | 19.5% | 17.2% | 24.4% | 15.4% |
| 166 | 145 | 144 | 140 | 90 | 118 | 123 | 107 | 107 | 112 | 85 | 136 | 70 | |
| Japan Renewal Party (JRP)Shinseitō | – | 10.1% | |||||||||||
| 55 | |||||||||||||
| Kōmeitō (K/KP/CGP/etc.)Kōmeitō | – | 5.4% | 10.9% | 8.5% | 11.0% | 9.8% | 9.0% | 10.1% | 9.4% | 8.0% | 8.1% | ||
| 25 | 47 | 29 | 55 | 57 | 33 | 58 | 56 | 45 | 51 | ||||
| Japan New Party (JNP)Nihon Shintō | – | 8.0% | |||||||||||
| 35 | |||||||||||||
| Democratic Socialist Party (DSP)Minshatō | – | 8.8% | 7.4% | 7.4% | 7.7% | 7.0% | 6.3% | 6.8% | 6.6% | 7.3% | 6.4% | 4.8% | 3.5% |
| 17 | 23 | 30 | 31 | 19 | 29 | 35 | 32 | 38 | 26 | 14 | 15 | ||
| Japanese Communist Party (JCP)Nihon Kyōsantō | 2.6% | 2.9% | 4.0% | 4.8% | 6.8% | 10.5% | 10.4% | 10.4% | 9.8% | 9.3% | 8.8% | 8.0% | 7.7% |
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 38 | 17 | 39 | 29 | 26 | 26 | 16 | 15 | |
| New Party Harbinger (NPH)Shintō Sakigake | – | 3.5% | |||||||||||
| 13 | |||||||||||||
This sectionneeds expansion with: history after 1947. You can help byadding missing information.(August 2020) |



The Japanese parliament, then known as the Imperial Diet, was established in 1890 as a result of the 1889Meiji Constitution. It was modeled on the parliaments of several Western countries, particularly theGerman Empire and the United Kingdom, because of theEmperor Meiji's westernizing reforms. The Imperial Diet consisted oftwo chambers, the elected House of Representatives which was the lower house, and theHouse of Peers which was the upper house. This format was similar to theHouse of Lords in theWestminster system, or theHerrenhaus inPrussia, where the upper house represented thearistocracy.
Both houses, and also the Emperor, had to agree on legislation, and even at the height of party-based constitutional government, the House of Peers could simply vote down bills deemed too liberal by theMeiji oligarchy, such as the introduction ofwomen's suffrage, increases in local autonomy, or trade union rights. Theprime minister and his government servedat the Emperor's pleasure, and could not be removed by the Imperial Diet. However, the right to vote on, and if necessary to block, legislation including the budget, gave the House of Representatives leverage to force the government into negotiations. After an early period of frequent confrontation and temporary alliances between the cabinet and political parties in the lower house, parts of the Meiji oligarchy more sympathetic to political parties aroundItō Hirobumi and parts of the liberal parties eventually formed a more permanent alliance, in the form of theRikken Seiyūkai in 1900. The confidence of the House of Representatives was never a formal requirement to govern, but between 1905 and 1918, only one cabinet took office that did not enjoy majority support in the House of Representatives.[16]
During theTaishō political crisis in 1913, ano-confidence vote[17] against thethird Katsura government, accompanied by major demonstrations outside the Diet, was followed shortly by resignation. Subsequently, in the period often referred to asTaishō democracy, it became increasingly customary to appoint many ministers, including several prime ministers, from the House of Representatives –Hara Takashi was the first commoner to become prime minister in 1918.
In the same year, theRice Riots had confronted the government with an unprecedented scale of domestic unrest, and aGerman Revolution brought the Prusso-German monarchy to an end, the very system Meiji oligarchs had used as the main model for the Meiji constitution to consolidate and preserve Imperial power. EvenYamagata Aritomo and other oligarchs that had been fundamentally opposed to political parties, became more inclined to cooperate with the still mainlybourgeoisie parties, to prevent a rise of socialism or other movements that might threaten Imperial rule. Socialist parties would not be represented in significant numbers in the lower house until the 1930s.
The initially very highcensus suffrage requirement was reduced several times, until the introduction ofuniversal male suffrage in 1925. The electoral system to the House of Representatives was also fundamentally changed several times: between systems of "small" mostly single- and few multi-member electoral districts (1890s, 1920, 1924), "medium" mostly multi-member districts (1928–1942) and "large" electoral districts (usually only one, rarely two city and one counties district per prefecture; 1900s and 1910s), usingfirst-past-the-post in single-member districts,plurality-at-large voting (1890s) orsingle non-transferable vote in the multi-member districts.
Influence of the House of Representatives on the government increased, and the party cabinets of the 1920s brought Japan apparently closer to aparliamentary system of government, and there were several reforms to the upper house in 1925. However, the balance of powers between the two houses and the influential role of extra-constitutional actors such as theGenrō (who still selected the prime minister) or the military (that had brought down several cabinets) remained in essence untouched. Within a year of theJapanese invasion of Manchuria in September 1931, a series of assassinations and coup attempts followed. Party governments were replaced bygovernments of "national unity" (kyokoku itchi) which were dominated by nobles, bureaucrats and increasingly the military.
After theMarco Polo Bridge Incident and the start of war in 1937, the influence of the Imperial Diet was further diminished, though never eliminated, by special laws such as theNational Mobilization Law and expanded powers for cabinet agencies such as the Planning Board.[18] The House of Representatives in the Empire had a four-year term and could be dissolved by theEmperor. In contrast, members of the House of Peers had eitherlife tenure (subject to revocation by the Emperor) or a seven-year term in the case of members elected in mutual peerage elections among the three lower peerage ranks, top taxpayer and academic peerage elections. During the war, the term of the members of the House of Representatives elected in the last pre-warelection of 1937 was extended by one year.
In the1946 election to the House of Representatives, held under the U.S.-ledAllied occupation of Japan,women's suffrage was introduced, and a system of "large" electoral districts (one or two per prefecture) withlimited voting was used. A change in the electoral law in April 1945 had for the first time allocated 30 seats to the established colonies of the Empire: Karafuto (Sakhalin),Taiwan, and Chōsen (Korea); but this change was never implemented. Similarly, Korea and Taiwan were granted several appointed members of theHouse of Peers in 1945.
In 1946, both houses of the Imperial Diet (together with the Emperor) passed thepostwar constitutional amendment which took effect in 1947. The Imperial Diet was renamed the National Diet, the House of Peers was replaced by an elected upper house called theHouse of Councillors, and the House of Representatives would now be able to override the upper house in important matters. The constitution also gave the Diet exclusive legislative authority, without involvement of the Emperor, and explicitly made the cabinet responsible to the Diet and requires that theprime minister has the support of a majority in the House of Representatives.

The Diet first met under the new constitution on May 20, 1947.[19] Four days later,Tetsu Katayama of theDemocratic Socialist Party became Japan's first socialist prime minister and the first since the introduction of parliamentarianism.
Since the end of US rule in 1952, it has been the norm that the prime minister dissolves the House of Representatives before its 4-year term expires. Only once, in 1976, did the House last a full 4 years. It has become tradition to give nicknames to each dissolution, usually referencing a major political issue or controversy. One infamous example was on March 14, 1953, whenShigeru Yoshida dissolved the House and called for new election, after he name called people during a meeting of the budget committee. This came to be known as the"you idiot" dissolution [ja].[20]
In 1955, prime ministerIchirō Hatoyama oversaw the creation of theLiberal Democratic Party (LDP), which sincehis third government has dominated Japanese politics under the1955 System. The LDP would govern without interruption for nearly 40 years until the1993 election, alone save for a three-year coalition government with theNew Liberal Club after the1983 election.
Hatoyama planned to change the electoral system tofirst past the post, introducing a bill to that effect in March 1956. This was met with opposition from theSocialist Party, who criticized Hatoyama's plan as a "Hatomander". The bill passed the House of Representatives in May 1956, but was never voted on by the House of Councillors. Electoral reform came into vogue again in the 1970s, butKakuei Tanaka's plan met opposition internally in the LDP and never came to a vote in either chamber of the Diet.

Japan entered a lengthy recession in the 1990s (seeLost Decades), which many people blamed on the LDP.[citation needed] In the1993 election, the party lost power for the first time under the 1955 System, when an eight-party coalition led byMorihiro Hosokawa of theJapan New Party were able to forma government. This government fell apart after nine months, and was succeeded by theHata Cabinet, another short-lived non-LDP government. The LDP returned to power in 1994 with theMurayama Cabinet, this time in a coalition with their old rivals the Socialists, whose leaderTomiichi Murayama became prime minister.
As with party colleaguesIchirō Hatoyama andKakuei Tanaka before him, prime ministerToshiki Kaifu of the LDP unsuccessfully tried to reform the electoral system in 1991. However, the Morihiro Hosokawa government got the1994 Japanese electoral reform through the Diet, introducing aparallel voting system which went into effect at thenext election in 1996. Under this system, which remains in effect as of 2022, 300 (since reduced to 289) members of the House of Representatives are elected usingfirst past the post in single-member constituencies, while 200 (since reduced to 176) members are elected in regional blocs usingparty-list proportional representation.
Prime ministerJunichiro Koizumi introduced a bill to the House of Representatives in 2006 on changing theImperial Household Law to allow a woman to ascend theChrysanthemum Throne (seeJapanese imperial succession debate), but he withdrew the bill after the birth ofPrince Hisahito of Akishino the same year. The LDP once again lost power at the2009 election, when theDemocratic Party-ledHatoyama Cabinet took over, followed in rapid succession by theKan Cabinet andNoda Cabinet. The LDP andKomeito, who had formed a two-party government between 2003 and 2009, came to power again after the2012 election.Shinzo Abe, who had previously led theFirst Abe Cabinet, was prime minister for another stint lasting eight years, stepping down for health reasons in 2020. He was succeeded byYoshihide Suga.
When the EmperorAkihito expressed interest in abdicating, the Diet passed theEmperor Abdication Law in 2017, allowing for the2019 Japanese imperial transition and the succession to the throne ofNaruhito. In December 2022, in light of theRussian invasion of Ukraine and increasedmilitary cooperation between China and Russia, prime ministerFumio Kishida announced plans to significantly increase funding for theJapan Self-Defense Forces; this was continued under his successor as prime minister,Shigeru Ishiba.
| Election | Date | Prime Minister appointed by Emperor (during term) | Turnout | Seats | Date of dissolution (D) / expiration of term (E) | Registered voters | Largest party / Seats Share | Emperor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial Diet (1890–1947); upper house:House of Peers | Meiji (era) | |||||||||
| 1st | 1 July 1890 | Yamagata Aritomo | 93.91% | 300 | 450,872 | Constitutional Liberal | 130 | 43.33% | ||
| (Matsukata Masayoshi) | ||||||||||
| 2nd | 15 February 1892 | Matsukata Masayoshi | 91.59% | (D) December 25, 1891 | 434,594 | 94 | 31.33% | |||
| (Itō Hirobumi) | ||||||||||
| 3rd | March 1, 1894 | Itō Hirobumi | 88.76% | (D) December 30, 1893 | 440,113 | 120 | 40.00% | |||
| 4th | 1 September 1894 | Itō Hirobumi | 84.84% | (D) June 2, 1894 | 460,483 | 107 | 35.66% | |||
| (Matsukata Masayoshi) | ||||||||||
| (Itō Hirobumi) | ||||||||||
| 5th | 15 March 1898 | Itō Hirobumi | 87.50% | (D) December 25, 1897 | 452,637 | 105 | 35.00% | |||
| (Ōkuma Shigenobu) | ||||||||||
| 6th | 10 August 1898 | Ōkuma Shigenobu | 79.91% | (D) June 10, 1898 | 502,292 | Kensei Hontō | 124 | 41.33% | ||
| (Yamagata Aritomo) | ||||||||||
| (Itō Hirobumi) | ||||||||||
| (Katsura Tarō) | ||||||||||
| Election | Date | Prime Minister appointed by Emperor (during term) | Turnout | Seats | Date of dissolution (D) / expiration of term (E) | Registered voters | Largest party / Seats Share | Emperor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7th | August 10, 1902 | Katsura Tarō | 88.39% | 376 | (E) August 9, 1902 | 982,868 | Rikken Seiyūkai | 191 | 50.79% | Meiji (era) |
| 8th | March 1, 1903 | 86.17% | (D) December 28, 1902 | 958,322 | 175 | 46.54% | ||||
| 9th | 1 March 1904 | Katsura Tarō | 86.06% | 379 | (D) December 11, 1903 | 762,445 | 133 | 35.09% | ||
| (Saionji Kinmochi) | ||||||||||
| 10th | 15 May 1908 | Saionji Kinmochi | 85.29% | (E) March 27, 1908 | 1,590,045 | 187 | 49.34% | |||
| (Katsura Tarō) | ||||||||||
| (Saionji Kinmochi) | ||||||||||
| 11th | 15 May 1912 | Saionji Kinmochi | 89.58% | 381 | (E) May 14, 1912 | 1,506,143 | 209 | 54.85% | ||
| (Katsura Tarō) | Taishō (era) | |||||||||
| (Yamamoto Gonnohyōe) | ||||||||||
| (Ōkuma Shigenobu) | ||||||||||
| 12th | 25 March 1915 | Ōkuma Shigenobu | 92.13% | (D) December 25, 1914 | 1,546,411 | Rikken Dōshikai | 153 | 40.15% | ||
| (Terauchi Masatake) | ||||||||||
| 13th | 20 April 1917 | Terauchi Masatake | 91.92% | (D) January 25, 1917 | 1,422,126 | Rikken Seiyūkai | 165 | 43.30% | ||
| (Hara Takashi) | ||||||||||
| 14th | 10 May 1920 | Hara Takashi | 86.73% | 464 | (D) February 26, 1920 | 3,069,148 | 278 | 59.91% | ||
| (Takahashi Korekiyo) | ||||||||||
| (Katō Tomosaburō) | ||||||||||
| (Yamamoto Gonnohyōe) | ||||||||||
| (Kiyoura Keigo) | ||||||||||
| 15th | 10 May 1924 | Katō Takaaki | 91.18% | (D) January 31, 1924 | 3,288,405 | Kenseikai | 151 | 32.54% | ||
| (Wakatsuki Reijirō) | ||||||||||
| (Tanaka Giichi) | Shōwa (era) | |||||||||
| 16th | 20 February 1928 | Tanaka Giichi | 80.36% | 466 | (D) January 21, 1928 | 12,408,678 | Rikken Seiyūkai | 218 | 46.78% | |
| (Hamaguchi Osachi) | ||||||||||
| 17th | 20 February 1930 | Hamaguchi Osachi | 83.34% | (D) January 21, 1930 | 12,812,895 | Rikken Minseitō | 273 | 58.58% | ||
| (Wakatsuki Reijirō) | ||||||||||
| (Inukai Tsuyoshi) | ||||||||||
| 18th | 20 February 1932 | Inukai Tsuyoshi | 81.68% | (D) January 21, 1932 | 13,237,841 | Rikken Seiyukai | 301 | 64.59% | ||
| (Saitō Makoto) | ||||||||||
| (Keisuke Okada) | ||||||||||
| 19th | 20 February 1936 | Kōki Hirota | 78.65% | (D) January 21, 1936 | 14,479,553 | Rikken Minseitō | 205 | 43.99% | ||
| (Senjūrō Hayashi) | ||||||||||
| 20th | 30 April 1937 | Senjūrō Hayashi | 73.31% | (D) March 31, 1937 | 14,618,298 | 179 | 38.41% | |||
| (Fumimaro Konoe) | ||||||||||
| (Hiranuma Kiichirō) | ||||||||||
| (Nobuyuki Abe) | ||||||||||
| (Mitsumasa Yonai) | ||||||||||
| (Fumimaro Konoe) | ||||||||||
| (Fumimaro Konoe) | ||||||||||
| (Hideki Tojo) | ||||||||||
| 21st | 30 April 1942 | Hideki Tojo | 83.16% | (E) April 29, 1942 | 14,594,287 | Imperial Rule Assistance Association | 381 | 81.75% | ||
| (Kuniaki Koiso) | ||||||||||
| (Kantarō Suzuki) | ||||||||||
| (Kantarō Suzuki) | ||||||||||
| (Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni) | ||||||||||
| (Kijūrō Shidehara) | ||||||||||
| 22nd | April 10, 1946 | Shigeru Yoshida | 72.08% | (D) December 18, 1945 | 36,878,420 | Liberal | 141 | 30.25% | ||
| 23rd | 25 April 1947 | Tetsu Katayama | 67.95% | (D) March 31, 1947 | 40,907,493 | Socialist | 143 | 30.68% | ||
| (Hitoshi Ashida) | ||||||||||
| (Shigeru Yoshida) | ||||||||||
| National Diet (1947–present); upper house:House of Councillors | ||||||||||
| 24th | 23 January 1949 | Shigeru Yoshida | 74.04% | 466 | (D) December 23, 1948 | 42,105,300 | Democratic Liberal | 264 | 56.65% | |
| (Shigeru Yoshida) | ||||||||||
| 25th | October 1, 1952 | Shigeru Yoshida | 76.43% | (D) August 28, 1952 | 46,772,584 | Liberal | 240 | 51.50% | ||
| 26th | 19 April 1953 | Shigeru Yoshida | 74.22% | (D) March 14, 1953 | 47,090,167 | Liberal Yoshida faction | 199 | 42.70% | ||
| (Ichirō Hatoyama) | ||||||||||
| 27th | 27 February 1955 | Ichirō Hatoyama | 75.84% | 467 | (D) January 24, 1955 | 49,235,375 | Democratic | 185 | 39.61% | |
| (Ichirō Hatoyama) | ||||||||||
| (Tanzan Ishibashi) | ||||||||||
| (Nobusuke Kishi) | ||||||||||
| 28th | 22 May 1958 | Nobusuke Kishi | 76.99% | (D) April 25, 1958 | 52,013,529 | Liberal Democratic | 287 | 61.45% | ||
| (Hayato Ikeda) | ||||||||||
| 29th | November 20, 1960 | Hayato Ikeda | 73.51% | (D) October 24, 1960 | 54,312,993 | 296 | 63.38% | |||
| 30th | 21 November 1963 | Hayato Ikeda | 71.14% | (D) October 23, 1963 | 58,281,678 | 283 | 60.59% | |||
| (Eisaku Satō) | ||||||||||
| 31st | January 29, 1967 | Eisaku Satō | 73.99% | 486 | (D) December 27, 1966 | 62,992,796 | 277 | 56.99% | ||
| 32nd | 27 December 1969 | Eisaku Satō | 68.51% | (D) December 2, 1969 | 69,260,424 | 288 | 59.25% | |||
| (Kakuei Tanaka) | ||||||||||
| 33rd | 10 December 1972 | Kakuei Tanaka | 71.76% | 491 | (D) November 13, 1972 | 73,769,636 | 271 | 55.19% | ||
| (Takeo Miki) | ||||||||||
| 34th | 5 December 1976 | Takeo Fukuda | 73.45% | 511 | (E) December 9, 1976 | 77,926,588 | 249 | 48.72% | ||
| (Masayoshi Ōhira) | ||||||||||
| 35th | October 7, 1979 | Masayoshi Ōhira | 68.01% | (D) September 7, 1979 | 80,169,924 | 248 | 48.53% | |||
| 36th | 22 June 1980 | Zenkō Suzuki | 74.57% | (D) May 19, 1980 | 80,925,034 | 284 | 55.57% | |||
| (Yasuhiro Nakasone) | ||||||||||
| 37th | December 18, 1983 | Yasuhiro Nakasone | 67.94% | (D) November 28, 1983 | 84,252,608 | 250 | 48.92% | |||
| 38th | 2 June 1986 | Yasuhiro Nakasone | 71.40% | 512 | (D) June 2, 1986 | 86,426,845 | 300 | 58.59% | ||
| (Noboru Takeshita) | ||||||||||
| (Sōsuke Uno) | Akihito (Heisei) (era) | |||||||||
| (Toshiki Kaifu) | ||||||||||
| 39th | 18 February 1990 | Toshiki Kaifu | 73.31% | (D) January 24, 1990 | 90,322,908 | 275 | 53.71% | |||
| (Kiichi Miyazawa) | ||||||||||
| 40th | 18 July 1993 | Morihiro Hosokawa | 67.26% | 511 | (D) June 18, 1993 | 94,477,816 | 223 | 43.63% | ||
| (Tsutomu Hata) | ||||||||||
| (Tomiichi Murayama) | ||||||||||
| (Ryūtarō Hashimoto) | ||||||||||
| 41st | 20 October 1996 | Ryūtarō Hashimoto | 59.65% | 500 | (D) September 27, 1996 | 97,680,719 | 239 | 47.80% | ||
| (Keizō Obuchi) | ||||||||||
| (Yoshirō Mori) | ||||||||||
| 42nd | 25 June 2000 | Yoshirō Mori | 62.49% | 480 | (D) June 2, 2000 | 100,492,328 | 233 | 48.54% | ||
| (Junichiro Koizumi) | ||||||||||
| Election | Date | Prime Minister appointed by Emperor (during term) | Turnout | Seats | Date of dissolution (D) / expiration of term (E) | Registered voters | Largest party / Seats Share | Emperor | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43rd | 9 November 2003 | Junichiro Koizumi | 59.86% | 480 | (D) 10 October 2003 | 102,306,684 | Liberal Democratic | 237 | 49.37% | Akihito (Heisei) (era) |
| 44th | 11 September 2005 | Junichiro Koizumi | 67.51% | (D) 8 August 2005 | 103,067,966 | 296 | 61.66% | |||
| (Shinzo Abe) | ||||||||||
| (Yasuo Fukuda) | ||||||||||
| (Tarō Asō) | ||||||||||
| 45th | 30 August 2009 | Yukio Hatoyama | 69.28% | (D) 21 July 2009 | 104,057,361 | Democratic | 308 | 64.16% | ||
| (Naoto Kan) | ||||||||||
| (Yoshihiko Noda) | ||||||||||
| 46th | 16 December 2012 | Shinzo Abe | 59.32% | (D) 16 November 2012 | 103,959,866 | Liberal Democratic | 294 | 61.25% | ||
| 47th | 14 December 2014 | 52.66% | 475 | (D) 21 November 2014 | 104,067,104 | 291 | 61.26% | |||
| 48th | 22 October 2017 | Shinzo Abe | 53.68% | 465 | (D) 28 September 2017 | 106,091,229 | 284 | 61.08% | ||
| (Yoshihide Suga) | Naruhito (Reiwa) (era) | |||||||||
| (Fumio Kishida) | ||||||||||
| 49th | 31 October 2021 | Fumio Kishida | 55.93% | (D) 14 October 2021 | 105,622,758 | 261 | 56.12% | |||
| (Shigeru Ishiba) | ||||||||||
| 50th | 27 October 2024 | Shigeru Ishiba | 53.85% | (D) 9 October 2024 | 103,880,749 | 191 | 41.08% | |||
| (Sanae Takaichi) | ||||||||||
| 51st | 8 February 2026 | Sanae Takaichi | 56.26% | (D) 23 January 2026 | 103,211,224 | 316 | 67.96% | |||
35°40′31″N139°44′42″E / 35.67528°N 139.74500°E /35.67528; 139.74500