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.[1] Voter turnout was 76%.

1955 Japanese general election

← 1953 27 February 1955 1958 →

All 467 seats in the House of Representatives
234 seats needed for a majority
Turnout75.83% (Increase1.62pp)
  First party Second party
 
Hatoyama Ichirō (cropped).jpg
Taketora Ogata 2.jpg
Leader Ichirō Hatoyama Taketora Ogata
Party Democratic Liberal
Last election 26.71%, 111 seats[a] 38.95%, 199 seats
Seats won 185 112
Seat change Increase74 Decrease87
Popular vote 13,536,044 9,849,458
Percentage 36.57% 26.61%
Swing Increase9.86pp Decrease12.34pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Suzuki Mosaburo.JPG
Kawakami Jotaro 1952.JPG
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 Increase17 Increase1
Popular vote 5,683,312 5,129,594
Percentage 15.35% 13.86%
Swing Increase2.30pp Increase0.34pp

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

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PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Democratic Party13,536,04436.57185New
Liberal Party9,849,45826.61112–87
Left Socialist Party of Japan5,683,31215.3589+17
Right Socialist Party of Japan5,129,59413.8667+1
Japanese Communist Party733,1211.982+1
Labourers and Farmers Party357,6110.974–1
Other parties496,6141.342
Independents1,229,0823.326–5
Total37,014,836100.00467+1
Valid votes37,014,83699.14
Invalid/blank votes319,4990.86
Total votes37,334,335100.00
Registered voters/turnout49,235,37575.83
Source: Oscarsson, Masumi

By prefecture

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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

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ Nohlen D, Grotz F, & Hartmann C (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p381 ISBN 0-19-924959-8