1969 Japanese general election
27 December 1969
All 486 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan
244 seats needed for a majority
Turnout68.51% (Decrease5.47pp)
  First party Second party Third party
 
CGP
Leader Eisaku Satō Tomomi Narita Yoshikatsu Takeiri
Party Liberal Democratic Socialist Kōmeitō
Leader since 1 December 1964 30 November 1968 13 February 1967
Leader's seat Yamaguchi–2nd Kagawa–1st Tokyo–10th
Last election 48.80%, 277 seats 27.88%, 140 seats 5.38%, 25 seats
Seats won 288 90 47
Seat change Increase11 Decrease50 Increase22
Popular vote 22,381,570 10,074,101 5,124,666
Percentage 47.63% 21.44% 10.91%
Swing Decrease1.17pp Decrease6.44pp Increase5.53pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Eiichi Nishimura Kenji Miyamoto
Party Democratic Socialist Communist
Leader since June 1967 1 August 1958
Leader's seat Osaka–5th Did not contest
Last election 7.40%, 30 seats 4.76%, 5 seats
Seats won 31 14
Seat change Increase1 Increase9
Popular vote 3,636,591 3,199,032
Percentage 7.74% 6.81%
Swing Increase0.34pp Increase2.05pp
Prime Minister before election

Eisaku Satō
Liberal Democratic

 Prime Minister after election

Eisaku Satō
Liberal Democratic

General elections were held in Japan on 27 December 1969. The result was a victory for the Liberal Democratic Party, which won 288 of the 486 seats.[1] Voter turnout was 68.51%, the lowest since 1947. This was the first general election in Japanese history in which candidates were allowed limited use of television as a means for campaigning, something that had been formerly proscribed under Japan's strict election campaign laws.[2]

The main national policy issue at the time was the possibility of reverting Okinawa, which had been under American military occupation since the end of World War II, back over to Japanese control. Nonetheless, as is characteristic of Japanese elections, voters were more interested in pocket book issues, or "livelihood problems" (kurashi mondai), over pressing national and foreign policy questions. The election was marked by relative apathy, especially among young people in urban areas, with voter turnout in Tokyo being the lowest in the country, dropping from 63.12% in the last election to 56.35% in the 1969 election.[2]

Moreover, old districting laws from the pre-war period were still in effect, and as urban areas increased in population, individual rural voters (who were heavily skewed towards the LDP) were disproportionately more powerful than the average individual urban voter. In any event, the actual popular vote of the LDP had been continuously sliding down since its formation, and the LDP's increase in seats was more attributable to its competent endorsement of only a limited number of local seat candidates when compared to the Japan Socialist Party, which ran too many candidates and thus split votes at a disastrous rate. Ironically, what little increase in support the JSP saw was found primarily in rural areas rather than urban areas, the latter of which were traditionally seen as the base of the JSP's support; the young Kōmeitō and reformed Japanese Communist Party had been gradually making inroads into urban areas, further eating away at the JSP's strength.[2]

Results

Ichirō Ozawa won a seat in the House of Representatives for the first time, becoming the youngest elected legislator at the time. He went on to become a powerful political figure in the LDP and other parties.[3][4]

Future prime minister Tsutomu Hata was drafted to run in the election following his father's death, and won a seat for the first time.[5] Future prime minister Junichiro Koizumi also attempted to win his late father's seat in the election, but lost.[6]

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Liberal Democratic Party22,381,57047.63288+11
Japan Socialist Party10,074,10121.4490–50
Komeitō5,124,66610.9147+22
Democratic Socialist Party3,636,5917.7431+1
Japanese Communist Party3,199,0326.8114+9
Other parties81,3730.1700
Independents2,492,5605.3016+7
Total46,989,893100.004860
Valid votes46,989,89399.03
Invalid/blank votes459,8160.97
Total votes47,449,709100.00
Registered voters/turnout69,260,42468.51
Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan

By prefecture

Prefecture Total
seats		 Seats won
LDP JSP Kōmeitō DSP JCP Ind.
Aichi 20 13 4 3
Akita 8 4 3 1
Aomori 7 4 1 1 1
Chiba 13 10 1 2
Ehime 9 6 2 1
Fukui 4 3 1
Fukuoka 19 9 3 4 2 1
Fukushima 12 9 1 1 1
Gifu 9 7 2
Gunma 10 8 2
Hiroshima 12 8 1 1 1 1
Hokkaido 22 12 7 2 1
Hyōgo 19 9 4 3 2 1
Ibaraki 12 9 2 1
Ishikawa 6 5 1
Iwate 8 4 4
Kagawa 6 4 1 1
Kagoshima 11 8 1 2
Kanagawa 14 5 3 3 3
Kōchi 5 3 1 1
Kumamoto 10 8 1 1
Kyoto 10 4 1 2 1 2
Mie 9 7 2
Miyagi 9 6 3
Miyazaki 6 4 1 1
Nagano 13 7 4 1 1
Nagasaki 9 5 2 1 1
Nara 5 3 1 1
Niigata 15 9 6
Ōita 7 5 1 1
Okayama 10 6 2 2
Osaka 23 8 2 6 6 1
Saga 5 4 1
Saitama 13 8 2 1 2
Shiga 5 3 1 1
Shimane 5 4 1
Shizuoka 14 9 3 1 1
Tochigi 10 6 2 1 1
Tokushima 5 3 1 1
Tokyo 39 17 2 10 4 6
Tottori 4 3 1
Toyama 6 4 2
Wakayama 6 3 2 1
Yamagata 8 3 3 2
Yamaguchi 9 6 1 2
Yamanashi 5 3 2
Total 486 288 90 47 31 14 16

References

  1. ↑ "統計局ホームページ/第27章 公務員・選挙". Archived from the original on 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2012-12-19.
  2. 1 2 3 Curtis, Gerald L. (1970). "The 1969 General Election in Japan". Asian Survey. 10 (10): 859–871. doi:10.2307/2643097. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 2643097.
  3. ↑ Hayashi, Yuka (2010-09-09). "Japan's Kingmaker Bids to Seize the Crown". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  4. ↑ Desmond, Edward W. (2010-06-16). "Ichiro Ozawa: Reformer at Bay". ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  5. ↑ "Hata: Japan's Hope to End Paralysis". Los Angeles Times. 1994-04-23. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  6. ↑ "Koizumi Urges Constitutional Revision For Direct Election of Japanese Premier". Wall Street Journal. 2001-04-27. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-09-08.
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