1979 Japanese general election

General elections were held in Japan on 7 October 1979 to elect the 511 members of the House of Representatives. Prime Minister Ōhira Masayoshi's announcement that a consumption (sales) tax would be imposed was a hot-button issue in the run-up to the election. Facing widespread public disapproval, the prime minister abandoned the tax proposal.[1] The prime minister's party, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), ended up losing one seat, while the Japan Communist Party experienced a surge in voter support and its best ever electoral result, which mostly came at the expense of the Japan Socialist Party and the LDP-breakaway New Liberal Club.

1979 Japanese general election

← 1976 7 October 1979 1980 →

All 511 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan
256 seats needed for a majority
Turnout68.01% (Decrease5.44%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Masayoshi Ohira.jpg
Ichio Asukata Crop.png
Yoshikatsu-Takeiri-3.png
Leader Masayoshi Ōhira Ichio Asukata Yoshikatsu Takeiri
Party Liberal Democratic Socialist Kōmeitō
Last election 41.78%, 249 seats, 20.69%, 123 seats 10.91%, 55 seats
Seats won 248 107 57
Seat change Decrease1 Decrease16 Increase2
Popular vote 24,084,131 10,643,450 5,282,683
Percentage 44.59% 19.71% 9.78%
Swing Increase2.81pp Decrease0.98pp Decrease1.13pp

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Kenji Miyamoto (cropped).jpg
Ryosaku-Sasaki-1.png
Leader Kenji Miyamoto Sasaki Ryōsaku
Party Communist Democratic Socialist
Last election 10.38%, 17 seats 6.28%, 29 seats
Seats won 39 35
Seat change Increase22 Increase6
Popular vote 5,625,528 3,663,692
Percentage 10.42% 6.78%
Swing Increase0.04pp Increase0.40pp

Districts shaded according to winners' vote strength

Prime Minister before election

Masayoshi Ōhira
Liberal Democratic

Elected Prime Minister

Masayoshi Ōhira
Liberal Democratic

This was the first election in the LDP's history in which the party increased its share of the popular vote compared to the previous election.

Results

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PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Liberal Democratic Party24,084,13144.59248–1
Japan Socialist Party10,643,45019.71107–16
Japanese Communist Party5,625,52810.4239+22
Kōmeitō5,282,6839.7857+2
Democratic Socialist Party3,663,6926.7835+6
New Liberal Club1,631,8123.024–13
Socialist Democratic Federation368,6600.682New
Other parties69,1010.130
Independents2,641,0644.8919–2
Total54,010,121100.005110
Valid votes54,010,12199.06
Invalid/blank votes511,8920.94
Total votes54,522,013100.00
Registered voters/turnout80,169,92468.01
Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan, National Diet

By prefecture

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Prefecture Total
seats
Seats won
LDP JSP Kōmeitō JCP DSP NLC SDF Ind.
Aichi 22 10 2 2 1 4 3
Akita 8 4 3 1
Aomori 7 5 1 1
Chiba 16 6 3 2 1 4
Ehime 9 7 2
Fukui 4 2 1 1
Fukuoka 19 7 4 4 1 2 1
Fukushima 12 9 2 1
Gifu 9 6 2 1
Gunma 10 7 3
Hiroshima 12 8 2 1 1
Hokkaido 22 10 8 1 1 1 1
Hyōgo 20 6 5 4 2 3
Ibaraki 12 7 3 1 1
Ishikawa 6 5 1
Iwate 8 6 2
Kagawa 6 4 2
Kagoshima 11 8 3
Kanagawa 19 5 4 4 1 3 2
Kōchi 5 2 1 1 1
Kumamoto 10 5 2 1 2
Kyoto 10 2 1 2 3 2
Mie 9 5 2 1 1
Miyagi 9 5 1 1 1 1
Miyazaki 6 3 2 1
Nagano 13 7 3 1 1 1
Nagasaki 9 4 2 1 1 1
Nara 5 2 1 1 1
Niigata 15 8 5 2
Ōita 7 3 2 1 1
Okayama 10 5 1 2 1 1
Okinawa 5 2 1 1 1
Osaka 26 6 3 7 7 3
Saga 5 4 1
Saitama 15 7 2 3 1 1 1
Shiga 5 2 1 1 1
Shimane 5 3 1 1
Shizuoka 14 7 2 2 1 2
Tochigi 10 5 3 1 1
Tokushima 5 4 1
Tokyo 43 13 8 11 8 2 1
Tottori 4 2 2
Toyama 6 4 2
Wakayama 6 3 1 2
Yamagata 8 4 2 1 1
Yamaguchi 9 5 2 1 1
Yamanashi 5 4 1
Total 511 248 107 57 39 35 4 2 19

References

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  1. ^ "The Political History of Japan's Consumption Tax". nippon.com. 2019-10-08. Retrieved 2020-03-12.