1955 Japanese general election

General elections were held in Japan on 27 February 1955. The result was a victory for the Japan Democratic Party, which won 185 of the 467 seats. Voter turnout was 76%.

1955 Japanese general election

27 February 1955
All 467 seats in the House of Representatives 234 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	75.83% (1.62pp)
First party Second party   Leader Ichirō Hatoyama Taketora Ogata Party Democratic Liberal Last election 26.71%, 111 seats 38.95%, 199 seats Seats won 185 112 Seat change 74 87 Popular vote 13,536,044 9,849,458 Percentage 36.57% 26.61% Swing 9.86pp 12.34pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Mosaburō Suzuki Jōtarō Kawakami Party Left Socialist Right Socialist Last election 13.05%, 72 seats 13.52%, 66 seats Seats won 89 67 Seat change 17 1 Popular vote 5,683,312 5,129,594 Percentage 15.35% 13.86% Swing 2.30pp 0.34pp
Districts shaded according to winners' vote strength
Prime Minister before election Ichirō Hatoyama Democratic Elected Prime Minister Ichirō Hatoyama Democratic

On 15 November 1955, the Japan Democratic Party and the Liberal Party combined as the modern Liberal Democratic Party, which ruled Japan continuously until 1993. The Rightist Socialist Party of Japan and the Leftist Socialist Party of Japan also merged to form the Japan Socialist Party, which was Japan's largest opposition party in the 1955 system.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Democratic Party	13,536,044	36.57	185	New
	Liberal Party	9,849,458	26.61	112	–87
	Left Socialist Party of Japan	5,683,312	15.35	89	+17
	Right Socialist Party of Japan	5,129,594	13.86	67	+1
	Japanese Communist Party	733,121	1.98	2	+1
	Labourers and Farmers Party	357,611	0.97	4	–1
	Other parties	496,614	1.34	2	–
	Independents	1,229,082	3.32	6	–5
Total		37,014,836	100.00	467	+1
Valid votes		37,014,836	99.14
Invalid/blank votes		319,499	0.86
Total votes		37,334,335	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		49,235,375	75.83
Source: Oscarsson, Masumi

By prefecture

Prefecture	Total seats	Seats won
		DP	LP	LSPJ	RSPJ	LFP	JCP	Others	Ind.
Aichi	19	6	6	6	1
Akita	8	5		1	2
Aomori	7	5	1	1
Chiba	13	7	3	2	1
Ehime	9	3	3	2	1
Fukui	4	1	2		1
Fukuoka	19	4	4	6	5
Fukushima	12	3	3	1	4			1
Gifu	9	4	3	2
Gunma	10	6	1	3
Hiroshima	12	5	4	1	2
Hokkaido	22	8	5	6	1	1			1
Hyōgo	18	9	1	3	5
Ibaraki	12	6	3	1	1	1
Ishikawa	6	3	2		1
Iwate	8	3	3	1	1
Kagawa	6	3	1	1	1
Kagoshima	11	5	3	2	1
Kanagawa	13	6	1	3	3
Kōchi	5	1	2	1	1
Kumamoto	10	3	4	2	1
Kyoto	10	4	2	3	1
Mie	9	5	2		2
Miyagi	9	3	2	1	3
Miyazaki	6	1	4	1
Nagano	13	5	2	2	3				1
Nagasaki	9	3	3	2	1
Nara	5	1	2	1	1
Niigata	15	5	5	4	1
Ōita	7	4	1	1	1
Okayama	10	4	3	2		1
Osaka	19	4	3	4	5		2		1
Saga	5	1	2	2
Saitama	13	3	5		4				1
Shiga	5	2	1		1			1
Shimane	5	2	1	1	1
Shizuoka	14	4	6	3		1
Tochigi	10	4	3	1	2
Tokushima	5	3	1	1
Tokyo	27	14	1	6	6
Tottori	4	2	1	1
Toyama	6	4		1					1
Wakayama	6	3	1	2
Yamagata	8	3	3	2
Yamaguchi	9	3	2	2	2
Yamanashi	5	2	1	1					1
Total	467	185	112	89	67	4	2	2	6