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

← 1956 2 June 1959 1962 →

127 of the 250 seats in the House of Councillors
126 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party
 
Leader Nobusuke Kishi Mosaburō Suzuki
Party LDP Socialist
Seats after 132 85
Seat change Increase10 Increase5
Popular vote 12,120,598 7,794,754
Percentage 41.2% 26.5%
Swing Increase4.5% Decrease3.4%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Sanzō Nosaka
Party Ryokufūkai JCP
Seats after 11 3
Seat change Decrease20 Increase1
Popular vote 2,382,703 551,196
Percentage 8.1% 1.9%
Swing Decrease2.0% Decrease0.2%

President of the House of Councillors before election

Yūzō Shigemune
LDP

President of the House of Councillors-designate

Yutaka Terao
LDP

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

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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

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Prefecture Total
seats
Seats won
LDP JSP Ryokufūkai JCP PLSME Ind.
Aichi 3 2 1
Akita 1 1
Aomori 1 1
Chiba 2 1 1
Ehime 1 1
Fukui 1 1
Fukuoka 3 2 1
Fukushima 2 1 1
Gifu 1 1
Gunma 2 1 1
Hiroshima 2 1 1
Hokkaido 4 2 2
Hyōgo 3 2 1
Ibaraki 2 1 1
Ishikawa 1 1
Iwate 1 1
Kagawa 1 1
Kagoshima 2 2
Kanagawa 2 1 1
Kōchi 1 1
Kumamoto 2 2
Kyoto 2 1 1
Mie 1 1
Miyagi 1 1
Miyazaki 1 1
Nagano 2 1 1
Nagasaki 1 1
Nara 1 1
Niigata 2 1 1
Ōita 1 1
Okayama 2 1 1
Osaka 3 1 2
Saga 1 1
Saitama 2 1 1
Shiga 1 1
Shimane 1 1
Shizuoka 2 2
Tochigi 2 1 1
Tokushima 1 1
Tokyo 4 2 2
Tottori 1 1
Toyama 1 1
Wakayama 1 1
Yamagata 1 1
Yamaguchi 1 1
Yamanashi 1 1
National 52 22 17 4 1 1 7
Total 127 71 38 6 7 7 10

References

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  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.