1969 Japanese general election

1969 Japanese general election

← 1967 27 December 1969 1972 →
All 486 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan 244 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	68.51% (5.47pp)
First party Second party Third party   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 11 50 22 Popular vote 22,381,570 10,074,101 5,124,666 Percentage 47.63% 21.44% 10.91% Swing 1.17pp 6.44pp 5.53pp   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 1 9 Popular vote 3,636,591 3,199,032 Percentage 7.74% 6.81% Swing 0.34pp 2.05pp
Prime Minister before election Eisaku Satō Liberal Democratic Prime Minister after election Eisaku Satō Liberal Democratic

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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]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Liberal Democratic Party	22,381,570	47.63	288	+11
	Japan Socialist Party	10,074,101	21.44	90	–50
	Komeitō	5,124,666	10.91	47	+22
	Democratic Socialist Party	3,636,591	7.74	31	+1
	Japanese Communist Party	3,199,032	6.81	14	+9
	Other parties	81,373	0.17	0	0
	Independents	2,492,560	5.30	16	+7
Total		46,989,893	100.00	486	0
Valid votes		46,989,893	99.03
Invalid/blank votes		459,816	0.97
Total votes		47,449,709	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		69,260,424	68.51
Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan

By prefecture

References

This page was last edited on 24 February 2024, at 19:48