General elections were held in Japan on 14 December 2014. Voting took place in all Representatives constituencies of Japan including proportional blocks to elect the members of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. As the cabinet resigns in the first post-election Diet session after a general House of Representatives election (Constitution, Article 70), the lower house election also led to a new election of the prime minister in the Diet, won by incumbent Shinzō Abe, and the appointment of a new cabinet (with some ministers re-appointed). The voter turnout in this election remains the lowest in Japanese history.

Background In 2012, the Democratic Party government under Yoshihiko Noda decided to raise the Japanese consumption tax. This unpopular move allowed the Liberal Democratic Party under Shinzo Abe to regain control of the Japanese government in the 2012 Japanese general election. Abe proceeded to implement a series of economic programs known as "Abenomics" in a bid to stimulate the economy. Despite these programs, Japan entered a technical recession in mid-2014, which Abe blamed on the consumption tax hike, even though many members of the LDP supported the hike. Abe called a snap election on November 18, in part for the purpose of winning LDP backing to postpone the hike and pursue the Abenomics package.

The LDP government was widely expected to win the election in a landslide, and many observers viewed the snap election as a mechanism for Abe to entrench his government at a time of relative popularity.

Under 2013 changes to the electoral law designed to reduce malapportionment, district boundaries in 17 prefectures were redrawn and five districts are eliminated without replacement (one each in Fukui, Yamanashi, Tokushima, Kōchi and Saga). The number of first-past-the-post seats is reduced to 295, the total number of seats decreases to 475.Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications: 衆議院小選挙区の区割りの改定等について

Opinion polls Parties' approval ratings from 2013 to 2014 (Source: NHK) Date LDP DPJ JRP PFG NKP YP PLP JCP SDP GW NRP UP JIP Oth. Und. NoAnswer Lead 5–7 December 38.1% 11.7% 0.1% 5.9% 0.3% 4.3% 0.9% 0.0% 3.7% 0.1% 26.3% 8.5% 11.8% 7–9 November 36.6% 7.9% 0.2% 2.2% 0.0% 0.0% 3.5% 0.6% 1.2% 0.1% 40.0% 7.7% 3.4% 11–13 October 40.2% 5.6% 0.1% 4.1% 0.5% 0.1% 3.3% 0.9% 1.4% 0.1% 35.0% 8.8% 5.2% 5–7 September 40.4% 5.4% 0.7% 0.1% 4.3% 0.0% 0.2% 3.3% 0.5% 0.1% 0.4% 36.9% 7.8% 3.5% 8–10 August 36.7% 6.4% 1.0% 0.3% 3.0% 0.2% 0.3% 3.2% 0.7% 0.0% 0.0% 39.4% 8.8% 2.7% 11–13 July 34.3% 4.8% 1.7% 3.6% 0.5% 0.3% 3.4% 0.9% 0.1% 0.3% 42.5% 7.6% 8.2% 6–8 June 36.9% 5.1% 1.1% 4.0% 0.4% 0.1% 2.8% 0.6% 0.0% 0.1% 42.4% 6.7% 5.5% 9–11 May 41.4% 5.6% 1.1% 3.7% 0.2% 0.3% 2.4% 0.9% 0.2% 0.1% 37.2% 6.9% 4.2% 11–13 April 38.1% 7.4% 1.3% 3.4% 0.9% 0.2% 3.6% 0.6% 0.1% 0.2% 37.2% 5.2% 0.9% 7–9 March 38.7% 6.5% 1.1% 2.2% 0.8% 0.1% 3.3% 0.8% 0.4% 0.1% 40.0% 5.2% 1.3% 7–9 February 36.2% 5.8% 1.3% 3.9% 1.1% 0.3% 3.3% 1.4% 0.5% 0.2% 41.0% 5.2% 4.8% 11–13 January 40.4% 5.8% 1.6% 2.8% 0.8% 0.1% 1.6% 0.7% 0.1% 0.3% 40.3% 5.5% 0.1% 2014 6–8 December 36.7% 7.8% 2.1% 2.8% 1.2% 0.2% 3.1% 0.6% 0.0% 38.7% 6.8% 2.0% 8–10 November 41.9% 5.2% 1.8% 4.4% 1.9% 0.3% 3.3% 0.4% 0.3% 35.1% 5.6% 6.8% 12–14 October 36.1% 5.2% 2.1% 3.8% 1.2% 0.2% 4.0% 0.5% 0.3% 41.8% 4.9% 5.7% 6–8 September 40.3% 5.5% 2.2% 4.4% 2.1% 0.0% 3.2% 0.7% 0.2% 34.6% 6.8% 5.7% 9–11 August 37.9% 7.3% 4.6% 4.6% 3.2% 0.2% 3.5% 0.8% 0.9% 30.8% 6.2% 7.1% 5–7 July 42.5% 8.0% 2.7% 5.3% 3.1% 0.5% 3.7% 0.9% 0.1% 0.0% 0.3% 24.5% 8.4% 18.0% 7–9 June 41.7% 5.8% 1.5% 5.1% 1.5% 0.1% 2.2% 0.4% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 34.6% 7.0% 7.1% 10–12 May 43.4% 5.3% 2.4% 3.7% 2.3% 0.3% 2.0% 1.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 33.3% 6.1% 10.1% 5–7 April 43.6% 6.1% 2.1% 3.7% 1.3% 0.4% 2.0% 0.7% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 34.5% 5.6% 9.1% 8–10 March 40.1% 7.0% 3.9% 4.4% 3.1% 0.3% 2.1% 0.6% 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% 31.8% 6.6% 8.3% 10–12 February 40.4% 7.0% 5.3% 3.1% 2.6% 0.3% 2.1% 0.8% 0.1% 0.0% 0.3% 31.7% 6.3% 8.7% 12–14 January 37.8% 7.6% 6.5% 4.0% 3.7% 0.5% 2.7% 0.8% 0.0% 0.0% 0.3% 30.8% 5.4% 7.0% 2013 Cabinet approval/disapproval ratings

Date PM Approval Disapproval 5–7 December Shinzo Abe 47% 38% 7–9 November Shinzo Abe 44% 38% 11–13 October Shinzo Abe 52% 34% 5–7 September Shinzo Abe 58% 28% 8–10 August Shinzo Abe 51% 33% 11–13 July Shinzo Abe 47% 38% 6–8 June Shinzo Abe 52% 32% 9–11 May Shinzo Abe 56% 29% 11–13 April Shinzo Abe 52% 31% 7–9 March Shinzo Abe 51% 30% 7–9 February Shinzo Abe 52% 33% 11–13 January Shinzo Abe 54% 31% 2014 21–22 December Shinzo Abe 49% 34% 6–8 December Shinzo Abe 50% 35% 8–10 November Shinzo Abe 60% 25% 12–14 October Shinzo Abe 58% 26% 6–8 September Shinzo Abe 59% 23% 9–11 August Shinzo Abe57% 29% 5–7 July Shinzo Abe 57% 25% 7–9 June Shinzo Abe 62% 20% 10–12 May Shinzo Abe65% 18% 5–7 April Shinzo Abe 66% 19% 23–24 March Shinzo Abe 69% 6% 9–10 MarchTBS/JNN Shinzo Abe 76% 22% 8–10 March Shinzo Abe 66% 18% 10–12 February Shinzo Abe 64% 20% 8–10 February内閣支持率71%、2回連続上昇...読売世論調査 Shinzo Abe 71% 18% 12–14 January Shinzo Abe 64% 22% 11–13 January Shinzo Abe 68% 24% 2013

Results

The LDP lost a small number of seats but slightly enlarged its majority coalition with Komeito. Turnout was a record low, and many voters viewed the election as a waste of time and money. DPJ president Banri Kaieda lost his seat in Tokyo while the Japanese Communist Party doubled in strength. The right-leaning Japan Innovation Party and Party for Future Generations lost seats.

By prefecture PrefectureTotalseatsSeats wonLDPDPJJIPKomeiPFGPLPJCPSDPInd.Aichi15861Akita33Aomori44Chiba13112Ehime44Fukui22Fukuoka1111Fukushima5311Gifu55Gunma55Hiroshima761Hokkaido12831Hyōgo1271121Ibaraki7511Ishikawa33Iwate4121Kagawa321Kagoshima541Kanagawa18132111Kōchi22Kumamoto541Kyoto642Mie532Miyagi651Miyazaki33Nagano5311Nagasaki44Nara431Niigata651Ōita321Okayama541Okinawa41111Osaka199154Saga211Saitama151221Shiga44Shimane22Shizuoka862Tochigi541Tokushima22Tokyo2522111Tottori22Toyama33Wakayama321Yamagata33Yamaguchi44Yamanashi211Total2952233811922118

By PR block PR blockTotalseatsSeats wonLDPDPJJIPKomeiJCPSDPChūgoku1152121Hokkaido832111Hokuriku–Shinetsu1153111Kinki (Kansai)2994844Kyushu21833421Northern Kanto2084332Shikoku63111Southern Kanto2284433Tohoku1454221Tōkai2185332Tokyo1763323Total18068353026201

Notable losses The most high-profile LDP candidate to lose re-election is Agriculture Minister Koya Nishikawa, who lost by 199 votes (0.2%) to former Governor of Tochigi Akio Fukuda. He was questioned in October after allegedly receiving financial support from a fraudulent company.

Amongst the DPJ members to lose their seats were party leader Banri Kaieda. Party for Future Generations leader Shintaro Ishihara was also unsuccessful in his attempt to win a seat after receiving a low position on his party's representative ballot.

Former leader of the now-dissolved Your Party and six-term representative for Tochigi-3rd district Yoshimi Watanabe was also defeated.

The JCP gained its first single-seat constituency seat since the 1996 election. Amidst a growing anti-base movement in Okinawa, JCP candidate Seiken Akamine unseated LDP incumbent Kōnosuke Kokuba in a night marked with a nationwide JCP surge.

Aftermath In November 2015 the Grand Bench of the Supreme Court ruled that the inequality in vote weight due to malapportionment was still in an unconstitutional state (iken jōtai); however, as in previous such rulings, it dismissed the demand to invalidate the election.14年衆院選、1票の格差は「違憲状態」 最高裁大法廷 Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 25 November 2015 Supreme Court says December election 'in state of unconstitutionality,' but won't nullify results The Japan Times, 25 November 2015

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