General elections were held in Japan on 25 June 2000 to elect the 480 members of the House of Representatives.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) remained the largest party in the House of Representatives but lost seats, along with its two coalition partners. Two cabinet members, Takashi Fukaya and Tokuichiro Tamazawa, lost their seats. The Democratic Party made major gains under the leadership of Yukio Hatoyama.
Background Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi suffered a stroke in April 2000 and was replaced by Yoshiro Mori. Although the term limit for the House of Representatives would have been reached in October 2000, Mori dissolved the House on June 2 in what became popularly known as the due to a controversial statement by Mori prior to the election, which preceded a slump in government approval ratings from 40% to 20%. The LDP government advocated continued public works spending while the opposition advocated less spending and more governmental reforms.
The Social Democratic Party left the coalition in 1998 and re-join the opposition after years of coalition with the ideologically contrasting LDP.
Meanwhile, the New Komeito Party, a centrist party with roots from the Soka Gakkai based on the Nichiren Buddhist movement and despite almost decades of opposition against the LDP, shifted from centre towards conservatism. An electoral alliance between the once rivals of the New Komeito and the LDP has been in effect since the Japanese General election in 2000. For the LDP, despite not being able to win an absolute majority of votes by itself in further elections (especially for the House of Councillors which the LDP lost majority since 1989), the New Komeito party has been counted on since then to ensure a stable governing majority rule.
Political parties Parties Leader Ideology Seats Status 1996 election At dissolution Liberal Democratic Party Yoshirō Mori Conservatism (Japanese)Japanese nationalism Democratic Party of Japan Yukio Hatoyama Liberalism rowspan="2" New Komeito Party Takenori Kanzaki Buddhist democracy Did not exist Japanese Communist Party Tetsuzo Fuwa Communism Liberal Party Ichirō Ozawa LiberalismNeoliberalism Did not exist Conservative Party Chikage Oogi Conservatism Did not exist Social Democratic Party Takako Doi Social democracy Independent Association Shiina Motō — Did not exist New Party Sakigake Masayoshi Takemura LiberalismReformism Liberal League Torao Tokuda Classical liberalism New Frontier Party Ichirō Ozawa Neoconservatism (Japanese)Neoliberalism Split
Results
The House of Representatives consisted of 480 members, 300 elected from single-member constituencies and 180 elected on a proportional basis from eleven multi-member constituencies known as Block constituencies.
By prefecture Prefecture Totalseats Seats won LDP DPJ NKP NCP AI SDP LP LL Ind. Aichi15591 Akita33 Aomori431 Chiba1275 Ehime44 Fukui33 Fukuoka11821 Fukushima5311 Gifu55 Gunma55 Hiroshima7511 Hokkaido1376 Hyōgo12332211 Ibaraki7511 Ishikawa33 Iwate413 Kagawa321 Kagoshima541 Kanagawa179611 Kōchi33 Kumamoto52111 Kyoto651 Mie5221 Miyagi624 Miyazaki33 Nagano532 Nagasaki4211 Nara44 Niigata6411 Ōita4211 Okayama55 Okinawa3111 Osaka1985411 Saga33 Saitama146611 Shiga321 Shimane33 Shizuoka9441 Tochigi541 Tokushima321 Tokyo2581313 Tottori22 Toyama33 Wakayama3111 Yamagata431 Yamaguchi431 Yamanashi321 Total3001778077544115
By PR block PR blockTotalseatsSeats won LDP DPJ NKP JCP LP SDP Chūgoku11422111 Hokkaido823111Hokuriku–Shinetsu11431111Kinki (Kansai)30775533 Kyushu21743223 Northern Kanto20753221 Shikoku63111 Southern Kanto21663222 Tohoku14531131Tōkai21772221 Tokyo17462221 Total180564724201815
Analysis The further entrenchment of the 1955 System continued, with the Democratic Party of Japan replacing the New Frontier Party as the primary opposition to the LDP. The Social Democratic Party saw a brief resurgence following its near destruction in 1996, but the decline of the party would continue in the following election. The election set the groundwork for the system of politics that would lay how Japanese elections work until the collapse of the Democratic Party of Japan in the mid-2010s.
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