1980 Japanese general election

General elections were held in Japan on 22 June 1980. They were the result of a vote of no confidence brought by the Japan Socialist Party (JSP) on 16 May regarding corruption and rises in public utility charges as reasons for the House of Representatives of Japan (lower house) to withdraw its backing from the government.

1980 Japanese general election

← 1979 22 June 1980 1983 →
All 511 seats in the House of Representatives 256 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	74.6% (6.6%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Masayoshi Ōhira (died on 12 June) Ichio Asukata Yoshikatsu Takeiri Party Liberal Democratic Socialist Kōmeitō Last election 44.59%, 248 seats 19.71%, 107 seats 9.78%, 57 seats Seats won 284 107 33 Seat change 36 24 Popular vote 28,262,441 11,400,748 5,329,942 Percentage 47.88% 19.31% 9.03% Swing 3.29pp 0.40pp 0.74pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Sasaki Ryōsaku Kenji Miyamoto Yōhei Kōno Party Democratic Socialist Communist New Liberal Club Last election 6.78%, 35 seats 10.42%, 39 seats 3.02%, 4 seats Seats won 32 29 12 Seat change 4 10 8 Popular vote 3,896,728 5,803,613 1,766,396 Percentage 6.60% 9.83% 2.99% Swing 0.18pp 0.59pp 0.03pp   Seventh party   Leader Hideo Den Party Socialist Democratic Last election 0.68%, 2 seats Seats won 3 Seat change 1 Popular vote 402,832 Percentage 0.68% Swing
Prime Minister before election Masayoshi Ōhira Liberal Democratic Prime Minister after election Zenkō Suzuki Liberal Democratic

Unexpectedly, 69 Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) members of the Diet from the Fukuda Takeo, Miki Takeo and Hidenao Nakagawa factions abstained from voting on the motion. The government was defeated by 56 votes in total of 243 and resigned.

For the first time, elections for both houses of the Diet were called in June 1980. During the election, Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party died during the campaign. Ōhira had expected the vote of no confidence to fail, and was visibly shaken when it passed by a margin of 243–187. Sixty-nine members of his own LDP, including Fukuda, abstained. Given the choice of resigning or calling new elections, Ōhira chose the latter and began campaigning for LDP candidates. He was hospitalized for exhaustion on 31 May and died of a massive heart attack 12 days later.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Masayoshi Ito acted in Ōhira's place as deputy after his death. In the elections of both the houses LDP gained a majority. The election results for the lower house are shown in the table below. Yoshio Sakurauchi, the Secretary General of LDP, led the LDP to its greatest victory in fifteen years, capitalizing on the "sympathy vote" generated by Ōhira's death. The Prime Minister was succeeded by Zenkō Suzuki after the election.