General elections were held in Japan on 6 July 1986 to elect the 512 members of the House of Representatives, alongside elections for the House of Councillors. The result was a landslide victory for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which gained 50 seats and an outright majority in the House. The LDP's 300 seats remained its joint-best general election result until 2026.
Most opposition parties lost seat, the exceptions being the Japanese Communist Party (which remained at 26 seats) and the Socialist Democratic Federation, which gained one seat. The biggest losses were experienced by the Japan Socialist Party, which lost 27 seats. The Democratic Socialist Party saw a 12-seat loss, while Kōmeitō saw a loss of three seats and the New Liberal Club, which had been in coalition with the LDP, lost two seats.
Prior to election day, polls indicated that the LDP would win a victory, but the size of the victory was considered unexpected. The New York Times wrote that "the fragmented opposition could not catch fire with any campaign issue." Economic policy was not sharply contested in the campaign; however, the Japanese economy had seen its first quarter of contraction in 11 years.
Results
Seats won per district By prefecture PrefectureTotalseatsSeats wonLDPJSPKōmeitōJCPDSPNLCSDFInd.Aichi221122142Akita752Aomori77Chiba1812231Ehime9711Fukui431Fukuoka1994411Fukushima12831Gifu96111Gunma1082Hiroshima129111Hokkaido23137111Hyōgo19104311Ibaraki128211Ishikawa541Iwate862Kagawa651Kagoshima1073Kanagawa20544124Kōchi52111Kumamoto106112Kyoto104222Mie9621Miyagi9711Miyazaki651Nagano13931Nagasaki9621Nara52111Niigata131021Ōita7421Okayama1051211Okinawa52111Osaka2774763Saga5311Saitama17923111Shiga5311Shimane532Shizuoka1410211Tochigi105311Tokushima5311Tokyo4419510811Tottori431Toyama642Wakayama6411Yamagata761Yamaguchi9621Yamanashi541Total51230085562626649
References