The is a constituency of the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan (national legislature) represented by eight Councillors. It comprises the entire prefecture of Kanagawa and elects four Councillors every three years by single non-transferable vote.
Between 1947 and 1995 Kanagawa was represented by four Councillors. The 1994 electoral reform reapportioned the number of seats, increasing the number of Councillors in Miyagi, Saitama, Gifu, and Kanagawa by two each (one per election) and reducing the number in Hokkaido, Hyogo and Fukuoka. Kanagawa, like most two-member districts, had often split seats between the two major parties, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Socialist Party (JSP). Following another reapportionment in the 2007 election when Tokyo gained an additional Councillor, Kanagawa had the lowest electoral weight for the House of Councillors countrywide. This resulted in Tottori voters having five times more voting power than Kanagawa voters during the 2010 House of Councillors election. After a Supreme Court ruling on this election, the National Diet amended the in November 2012 to add two seats to Kanagawa and Osaka each. However, this only reduced the largest vote disparity from five-fold to 4.77-fold (as of 2015).
As of July 2025, 7,712,688 voters were registered in Kanagawa.
Councillors from Kanagawa +Class of (1947/1953/...)ElectionClass of (1950/1956/...)#1 1947: #1, 6 Year Term1987: 2 Year Term#2 1947: #2, 6 Year Term#3 2005: #1, 2 Year Term#4#1 1947: #3, 3 Year Term1967: #1, 1 Year Term#2 1947: #4, 3 Year Term2009: #1, 1 Year Term#3#4Jiro Miki(JSP)Seiichi Ogushi(LP)1947Kenichi Suzuki(NCP)Kenji Ōsumi(LP)1950Eki Sone(JSP)Kosaku Ishimura(Yoshida LP)Jiro Miki(JSP, Right)Kenzō Kōno(Indep.)19531956Shigeaki Aizawa(JSP)Kenzō Kōno(LDP)Matsue Tagami(JSP)19591962Saburo Oka(JSP)Kenzō Kōno(LDP)19651967 by-el.Ichirō Satō(LDP)1968Shirō Takeda(JSP)Kenzō Kōno(LDP)Katsuji Kataoka(JSP)19711974Shirō Takeda(JSP)Akira Hatano(LDP)Kenzō Kōno(Indep.)19771980Akira Hatano(LDP)Shirō Takeda(JSP)Shingo Hattori(New Komeito)Tsuneo Sugimoto(LDP)19831986Fumio Saitō(LDP)Keiko Chiba(JSP)Kenichiro Sato(LDP)1987 by-el.Tadashi Kobayashi(JSP)Kiyoharu Ishiwata(LDP)19891992Akira Matsu (NFP)Tsuyoshi Saito(JSP)19951998Keiichirō Asao(LDP)Kimie Hatano(JCP)Keiko Chiba(DPJ)Yutaka Kobayashi(LDP)Akira Matsu(Komeito)Tsuyoshi Saito(DPJ)20012004Akio Koizumi(LDP)Keiichirō Asao(LDP)Yoriko Kawaguchi(LDP)2005 by-el.Hiroe Makiyama(DPJ)Yutaka Kobayashi(LDP)Masashi Mito(DPJ)2007|Akira Matsu(Komeito)20072009 by-el.Yōichi Kaneko(DPJ)2010Kenji Nakanishi(Your Party)Yōichi Kaneko(DPJ)Dai Shimamura(LDP)Shigefumi Matsuzawa(Your Party)Sayaka Sasaki(Komeito)Hiroe Makiyama(DPJ)20132016Junko Mihara(LDP)Nobuhiro Miura(Komeito)Yuichi Mayama(DPJ)Kenji Nakanishi(Indep.)Hiroe Makiyama(CDP)Shigefumi Matsuzawa(Nippon Ishin)20192022 (with by-el.)Shigefumi Matsuzawa(Nippon Ishin)Nobuhiro Miura(Komeito)Keiichirō Asao(LDP)Hiroe Makiyama(CDP) Akihiro Kagoshima(DPFP) Masaaki Waki(LDP) Hiroki Hajikano(Sanseitō)2025
Election results Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1940s
Notes
References House of Councillors: Historical members until January 2014