At Stake in this Election:        

• 124 of 245 seats in the House of Councillors (Sangi-in) 

Government Structure: 

• Chief of State: Emperor Naruhito 

• Head of Government: Prime Minister Fumido KISHIDA 

• Assembly: Japan has a bicameral Diet (Kokkai) consisting of the upper House of Councillors (Sangi-in) currently composed of 245 seats and the lower House of Representatives (Shugi-in) composed of 475 seats. 

Electoral System: 

• The emperor is hereditarily appointed and serves for life.  

• The Prime Minister is appointed by the National Diet (Kokkai)  

• In the House of Councillors (Sangi-in), 148 members are elected from 47 multi-seat constituencies using a single non-transferable vote. The remaining 100 seats are determined using an open party list system of proportional representation, in which the entirety of Japan is considered one electoral district. Councillors serve six-year terms.  

• In the House of Representatives (Shugi-in), 289 members are elected using a simple majority vote in single-member constituencies. The remaining 176 are determined by a proportional representation system using the D’Hondt method. They are elected from eleven multi-member constituencies ranging from six to twenty-six seats, with allocation of seats based on the parties' share of the national vote in the 11 large districts. Representatives serve four-year terms.  

Main Candidates in this Election:  

• Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)/Jiyū-Minshutō 

• Leader: Fumido KISHIDA 

• Seats won in last election: 113 

• Democratic Party for the People (DPFP)/Kokumin-minshutō 

• Leader: Yuichiro TAMAKI 

• Seats won in last election: 21 

• Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP)/Rikken-minshutō 

• Leader: Kenta IZUMI 

• Seats won in last election: N/A 

• Komeito/Kōmeitō 

• Leader: Natsuo YAMAGUCHI 

• Seats won in last election: 28 

• Japan Communist Party (JCP)/Nihon Kyōsan-tō 

• Leader: Kazuo SHII 

• Seats won in last election: 13 

• Social Democratic Party (SDPJ)/Shakai Minshu-tō 

• Leader: Mizuho FUKUSHIMA 

• Seats won in last election: 2 

• Reiwa Shinsengumi/ Reiwa Shinsengumi 

• Leader: Tarō YAMAMOTO 

• Seats won in last election: 2 

• The NHK Party 

• Leader: Takashi TACHIBANA 

• Seats won in last election: N/A 

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 124,214,766 (2022 est.)¹ 

• Registered Voters: 105,019,203 (2022) 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 64,739,512 (2022 est.)² 

• Is Japan a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 Jul 1980)³ 

• Has Japan ratified CEDAW: Yes (25 Jun 1985)⁴ 

• Gender Quota: None 

• Female Candidates in this election: 181 (33.2%)⁵ 

• Number of Female Legislators: 26 out of 242 (23.1%)⁶ 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 19 (0.919)⁷ 

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

Disability Data: 

• Is Japan a signatory to CRPD: Yes (28 September 2007)⁸ 

• Has Japan ratified CRPD: Yes (20 Jun 2014)⁹ 

• Population with a disability: 19,037,949 (2022 est.)¹⁰ 

IFES Resources:  

• Does IFES have a presence in Japan: No 

• Election Judgements: Yes, 5¹¹ 

 

1. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/japan/#people-and-society 

2. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/japan/#people-and-society 

3. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

4. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

5. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/07/from-get-married-to-getting-elected-women-a-record-one-third-of-candidates-in-japan-poll

6. https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking?month=6&year=2022

7. https://hdr.undp.org/data-center/country-insights#/ranks

8. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

9. https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?Treaty=CEDAW&Lang=en

10. http://electionaccess.org/en/resources/countries/?q=japan#tab 

11. https://electionjudgments.org/en/library/?q=(allAggregations:!f,filters:(country:(values:!(%2709vzk6sthf26%27)),region:(values:!(fbui5ji3stl))),from:0,includeUnpublished:!f,limit:30,order:desc,sort:creationDate,types:!(%275bfbb1a0471dd0fc16ada146%27),unpublished:!f,userSelectedSorting:!t)