1959 Japanese House of Councillors election

House of Councillors elections were held in Japan on 2 June 1959,[1] electing half the seats in the House. The Liberal Democratic Party won the most seats. Kōji Harashima, who later become a founding member and the first chairman of Kōmeitō, was elected to the Diet for the first time as one of several Soka Gakkai-affiliated independents.

1959 Japanese House of Councillors election

← 19562 June 19591962 →

127 of the 250 seats in the House of Councillors
126 seats needed for a majority
 First partySecond party
 
LeaderNobusuke KishiMosaburō Suzuki
PartyLiberal DemocraticSocialist
Seats after13285
Seat changeIncrease10Increase5
Popular vote12,120,5987,794,754
Percentage41.2%26.5%
SwingIncrease4.5%Decrease3.4%

 Third partyFourth party
 
LeaderSanzō Nosaka
PartyRyokufūkaiCommunist
Seats after113
Seat changeDecrease20Increase1
Popular vote2,382,703551,196
Percentage8.1%1.9%
SwingDecrease2.0%Decrease0.2%

President of the House of Councillors before election

Yūzō Shigemune
Liberal Democratic

President of the House of Councillors-designate

Yutaka Terao
Liberal Democratic

During the campaign, Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi and MITI began to discuss the now-famous "income doubling" plan, although it was temporarily shelved due to disputes between party factions and the looming importance of the US–Japan Security Treaty revision issue. The plan would not be revived until the tenure of Hayato Ikeda, beginning in 1960.[2]

Results edit

PartyNationalConstituencySeats
Votes%SeatsVotes%SeatsNot upWonTotal
after
+/–
Liberal Democratic Party12,120,59841.202215,667,02252.00496171132+10
Japan Socialist Party7,794,75426.491710,265,39434.0721473885+5
Ryokufūkai2,382,7038.104731,3832.4325611–20
Political League for Small and Medium Enterprises598,5192.031011New
Japanese Communist Party551,9161.881999,2553.320213+1
Other parties154,7430.530155,1890.5200000
Independents5,817,18719.7772,311,1127.67381018+4
Total29,420,420100.005230,129,355100.00751231272500
Valid votes29,420,42093.5930,129,35595.83
Invalid/blank votes2,016,2446.411,310,3984.17
Total votes31,436,664100.0031,439,753100.00
Registered voters/turnout53,516,47358.7453,516,47358.75
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications,[1][3] National Diet

By constituency edit

PrefectureTotal
seats
Seats won
LDPJSPRyokufūkaiJCPPLSMEInd.
Aichi321
Akita11
Aomori11
Chiba211
Ehime11
Fukui11
Fukuoka321
Fukushima211
Gifu11
Gunma211
Hiroshima211
Hokkaido422
Hyōgo321
Ibaraki211
Ishikawa11
Iwate11
Kagawa11
Kagoshima22
Kanagawa211
Kōchi11
Kumamoto22
Kyoto211
Mie11
Miyagi11
Miyazaki11
Nagano211
Nagasaki11
Nara11
Niigata211
Ōita11
Okayama211
Osaka312
Saga11
Saitama211
Shiga11
Shimane11
Shizuoka22
Tochigi211
Tokushima11
Tokyo422
Tottori11
Toyama11
Wakayama11
Yamagata11
Yamaguchi11
Yamanashi11
National5222174117
Total127713867710

References edit

  1. ^ a b Table 13: Persons Elected and Votes Polled by Political Parties - Ordinary Elections for the House of Councillors (1947–2004) Archived 2011-03-23 at the Wayback Machine Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
  2. ^ Fukui, Haruhiro (1972). "Economic Planning in Postwar Japan: A Case Study in Policy Making". Asian Survey. 12 (4): 341–342. doi:10.2307/2642940. ISSN 0004-4687.
  3. ^ "27-11 Allotted Number, Candidates, Eligible Voters as of Election Day, Voters and Voting Percentages of Ordinary Elections for the House of Councillors (1947-2004)". Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Archived from the original on 2006-01-04.