Japan: Parliament, 10 July 2016

At stake in this election:

• 121 seats in the Sangi-in (House of Councillors)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Emperor Akihito (since 7 January 1989)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Shinzo ABE (since 26 December 2012)
• Assembly: Japan has a bicameral Kokkai (Diet) consisting of the Sangi-in (House of Councillors) composed of 242 seats and the Shugi-in (House of Representatives) composed of 475 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• In the House of Councillors, 146 members are directly elected by majority vote and 96 are directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote. Members serve 6-year terms with one-half of the membership renewed every 3 years.

Last Election:

• Elections for the House of Councillors were last held on 21 July 2013. Prime Minister ABE’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its partner New Komeito Party won 76 of the 121 seats at stake, controlling a total of 135 seats out of 242. The main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), took only 17 seats in the last election and has 59 in total. In total, 9 political parties won seats in the House of Councillors in the last election.[1]

Main parties in the election:

• Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)/Jiyū-Minshutō
  • Leader: Shinzo ABE
  • Seats won in last election: 65
• Democratic Party (DP)/Minshintō[2]
  • Leader: Katsuya OKADA
  • Seats won in last election: 17
• Komeito/Kōmeitō[3]
  • Leader: Natsuo YAMAGUCHI
  • Seats won in last election: 11
• Japan Communist Party (JCP)/Nihon Kyōsan-tō
  • Leader: Kazuo SHII
  • Seats won in last election: 8
• Initiatives from Osaka (IfO)/ Ōsaka Ishin no Kai[4]
  • Leader: Ichiro MATSUI
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Okinawa Social Mass Party/Okinawa Shakai Taishū-tō
  • Leader: Keiko ITOKAZU
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• Social Democratic Party (SDPJ)/Shakai Minshu-tō
  • Leader: Tadatomo YOSHIDA
  • Seats won in last election: 1
• People’s Life Party, Yamamoto Taro and Company (PLP)/Seikatsu no Tō to Yamamoto Tarō to Nakamatachi
  • Leader: Ichiro OZAWA
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• The Assembly to Energize Japan/Nippon-wo-genkini-suru Kai
  • Leader: Kota MATSUDA
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Party for Japanese Kokoro/Nihon no Kokoro wo Taisetsu ni Suru Tou
  • Leader: Kyoko NAKAYAMA
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• New Renaissance Party (NRP)/Shintō Kaikaku
  • Leader: Hiroyuki ARAI
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Independents
  • Seats won in last election: 2

Population and number of registered voters:

·         Population: 126,919,659 (July 2015 est.)

·         Registered Voters: 101,280,758 (2014)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 65,336,996 (July 2015 est.)

·         Is Japan a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Japan ratified CEDAW: Yes (25 June 1985)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 83 (11.58%)[5]

·         Human Development Index Position: 20 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Japan a signatory to CRPD: Yes (28 September 2007)

·         Has Japan ratified CRPD: Yes (20 January 2014)

·         Population with a disability: 19,037,949