How other parties polled

Japan Press Weekly

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How other parties polled

LDP
The Liberal Democratic Party suffered a crushing defeat, winning 119 seats (55 in proportional representation and 64 in single-seat constituencies), down from 300 at the time of the dissolution of the House of Representative and the lowest since the founding of the party.

The LDP received 18,810,000 votes in the proportional representation blocs, down 7,080,000 from the previous 2005 general election. This clearly shows that their traditional vote base has crumbled.

It has surrendered its number one position in the House of Representatives for the first time since its founding in 1955. It is relinquishing its position as the ruling party for the first time in 16 years.

Expressing his intention to step down as president of the LDP, Prime Minister Aso Taro said, "We must accept the electoral verdict and start from scratch."

Many "heavy-weight" politicians, including former Prime Minister Kaifu Toshiki and former Finance Minister Nakagawa Shoichi, and former Defense Minister Kyuma Fumio, lost their seats.

DPJ
The Democratic Party of Japan won 308 seats in the 480-seat House of Representatives (87 in the proportional representation and 221 in single-seat constituencies), an increase of 193 from the time of the dissolution of the House of Representatives.

DPJ President Hatoyama Yukio , who is expected to succeed Aso as the prime minister of Japan, said that this election result shows the extent of public anger at the ruling parties rather than an increase in public support for DPJ policies.

In the proportional representation constituencies, the DPJ increased its votes to 29,840,000, up 8,800,000 from the previous election four years ago.

Komei Party
The Komei Party failed to secure the re-election of all eight of its seats in single-seat constituencies, suffering an historic defeat. Its key leadership members, Chief Representative Ota Akihiro (Tokyo No. 12 constituency), Secretary-General Kazuo Kitagawa (Osaka No. 16 constituency), and former Transport Minister Fuyushiba Tetsuzo (Hyogo No. 8 constituency) lost their seats.

The number of votes Komei obtained was 8,050,000, down from 8,990,000 in the previous general election. It backed the 272 LDP candidates in single-seat constituencies, up 33 from the previous election. But due to the LDP's substantial setback, it was unable to fulfill its promise to mobilize support behind Komei candidates in proportional representation constituencies.

SDP
The Social Democratic Party won seven seats (4 in the proportional representation and 3 in single seat constituencies). In the Osaka No. 10 constituency, the SDP's Tsujimoto Kiyomi campaigned under the banner of the Democratic Party, running as a "unified candidate of the opposition."

The number of votes the SDP received decreased to 3,010,000 from 3,720,000 in the previous proportional representation.

New Distribution of Diet Seats
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Japanese Communist Party    9 (unchanged from pre-election strength)
Democratic Party of Japan 308 (up from 115)
Liberal Democratic Party  119 (down from 300)
Komei Party                21 (down from 31)
Social Democratic Party     7 (unchanged)
Your Party                  5 (up from 4)
People's New Party          3 (down from 4)
New Party Nippon            1 (up from 0)
Daichi                      1 (unchanged)
Independents                6 (down from 7)
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Total                     480

- Akahata, September 1, 2009