Kanagawa 3rd district () was a multi-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the National Diet of Japan. It existed from the 1947 Japanese general election until the electoral reform of 1994 and was used in general elections from 1947 to 1993.

Area The modern single-member districts that cover the former area are Kanagawa 12th district, Kanagawa 13th district, Kanagawa 14th district, Kanagawa 15th district, Kanagawa 16th district and Kanagawa 20th district. It has no relation to the current Kanagawa 3rd district.

1992 boundaries (5 seats) At the time of the 1992 amendment to the Public Offices Election Act the district consisted of the following areas (5 seats): Fujisawa Chigasaki Sagamihara Yamato Ebina Zama Ayase Kōza District Tsukui District

1986 boundaries (4 seats) At the time of the 1986 amendment to the Public Offices Election Act the district consisted of the following areas (4 seats): Fujisawa Chigasaki Sagamihara Yamato Ebina Zama Ayase Kōza District Tsukui District

1975 boundaries (3 seats) At the time of the 1975 amendment to the Public Offices Election Act the district consisted of the following areas (3 seats): Fujisawa Chigasaki Sagamihara Yamato Ebina Zama Kōza District Tsukui District

1950 boundaries (5 seats) At the time of the enactment of the Public Offices Election Act in 1950 the district consisted of the following areas (5 seats): Hiratsuka Fujisawa Odawara Chigasaki Kōza District Naka District Ashigarakami District Ashigarashimo District Aikō District Tsukui District

History Until 1972 (pre-split) Created in 1947 with the reintroduction of the multi-member system, the district originally covered a vast area from the Shōnan and central Kanagawa regions to the western Ashigara districts (including Odawara, Hakone and the Tanzawa mountains) and the northern Aikō and Tsukui districts. It elected five members.

The powerful Kōno family (based in the western Odawara area) — Ichirō Kōno, Kenzō Kōno and later Yōhei Kōno — dominated the district for decades. They competed with long-serving figures such as former Prime Minister Tetsu Katayama (Socialist, based in Fujisawa) and long-time Vice-Speaker Nobuyuki Iwamoto (based in Sagamihara).

In the first election (1947), Ichirō Kōno was still purged and could not run; his younger brother Kenzō finished just outside the winners. Kenzō won in 1949 and later moved to the House of Councillors. Ichirō returned in 1952 and held the seat until his death in 1965. Katayama topped the poll in 1947 but lost in 1949 amid the collapse of his coalition government; he returned in 1952 but was defeated for a second time in 1963 (as a Democratic Socialist) and retired — the only former prime minister to suffer two electoral defeats under the postwar constitution until that time.

After the retirements of Ichirō Kōno and Katayama, the 1967 election saw Yōhei Kōno (Ichirō’s second son) and Masaru Kawamura (Democratic Socialist, Katayama’s successor) take the top two places. From then until 1972 the four main incumbents (Yōhei Kōno, Takeshi Hirabayashi, Kawamura and Shinji Kohama of Kōmeitō) largely held their seats, with the fifth seat contested.

1975–1993 (post-split) In July 1975 the district was split. The southwestern portion (Odawara, Hiratsuka, Atsugi, etc.) became the new Kanagawa 5th district. The remaining Kanagawa 3rd district covered central and northwestern areas (Fujisawa, Chigasaki, Yamato, Sagamihara, Zama, etc.) and was reduced to three seats (raised to four in 1986 and five in 1993).

In the first post-split election (1976), Yōhei Kōno, Hirabayashi and Kawamura moved to the new 5th district. The 3rd district was contested by Shinji Kohama (Kōmeitō), Kazuhiko Masumoto (Communist), Mankichi Katō (Socialist, Chigasaki base) and Tadashi Amari (originally LDP, then New Liberal Club). Tadashi Amari topped the poll for the New Liberal Club; the LDP’s Masakata Tozawa took the second conservative seat and Katō returned for the Socialists. The Communists never regained a seat in the district after 1972.

Subsequent elections saw intense three- and four-seat contests, with seats frequently changing hands between the LDP/New Liberal Club, Socialists and Kōmeitō. In 1983 Tadashi Amari retired and was succeeded by his son Akira Amari (New Liberal Club, later LDP). Fumihiko Hashimoto (Kōmeitō) and later Nobuo Kawakami held the Kōmeitō seat. Hirohisa Fujii entered the Diet from this district in 1990 (LDP) and topped the poll in 1993 as a member of the Japan Renewal Party.

In the final multi-member election (1993) the district elected five members: Fujii (Japan Renewal Party), Akira Amari (LDP), Kawakami (Kōmeitō), Katō (Socialist) and Akio Nakajima (Japan New Party).

After the 1994 electoral reform the area was divided into single-member districts. Akira Amari moved to the new Kanagawa 13th district, Fujii to Kanagawa 14th district, etc.

Elected members Election Year 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 23rd 1947 Tetsu Katayama (JSP) Yūji Suzuki (JSP) Hisao Hagiwara (National Cooperative) Nobuyuki Iwamoto (Japan Liberal) Teijo Isozaki (Japan Liberal) 24th 1949 Katsuo Okazaki (Democratic Liberal) Nobuyuki Iwamoto (Democratic Liberal) Yoshiteru Kogane (Independent) Kenzō Kōno (Democratic Liberal) Inosuke Nakanishi (JCP) 25th 1952 Tetsu Katayama (Rightist Socialist) Ichirō Kōno (Liberal) Yoshiteru Kogane (Liberal) Nobuyuki Iwamoto (Liberal) Katsuo Okazaki (Liberal) 26th 1953 Tetsu Katayama (Rightist Socialist) Satoru Andō (Liberal Separatists) Ichirō Kōno (Liberal Separatists) Katsuo Okazaki (Liberal) Yoshiteru Kogane (Liberal) 27th 1955 Ichirō Kōno (Japan Democratic) Tetsu Katayama (Rightist Socialist) Morito Morishima (Leftist Socialist) Satoru Andō (Japan Democratic) Yoshiteru Kogane (Liberal) 28th 1958 Morito Morishima (JSP) Ichirō Kōno (LDP) Nobuyuki Iwamoto (LDP) Tetsu Katayama (JSP) Yoshiteru Kogane (LDP) 29th 1960 Morito Morishima (JSP) Ichirō Kōno (LDP) Yoshiteru Kogane (LDP) Satoru Andō (LDP) Tetsu Katayama (DSP) 30th 1963 Ichirō Kōno (LDP) Takeshi Hirabayashi (JSP) Satoru Andō (LDP) Gōsuke Kimura (LDP) Yoshiteru Kogane (LDP) 31st 1967 Yōhei Kōno (LDP) Masaru Kawamura (DSP) Mankichi Katō (JSP) Takeshi Hirabayashi (JSP) Shinji Kohama (Kōmeitō) 32nd 1969 Yōhei Kōno (LDP) Shinji Kohama (Kōmeitō) Masaru Kawamura (DSP) Yoshiteru Kogane (LDP) Takeshi Hirabayashi (JSP) 33rd 1972 Yōhei Kōno (LDP) Shinji Kohama (Kōmeitō) Kazuhiko Masumoto (JCP) Takeshi Hirabayashi (JSP) Masaru Kawamura (DSP) 34th 1976 Tadashi Amari (New Liberal Club) Mankichi Katō (JSP) Masakata Tozawa (LDP) 35th 1979 Shinji Kohama (Kōmeitō) Mankichi Katō (JSP) Masakata Tozawa (LDP) 36th 1980 Masakata Tozawa (LDP) Mankichi Katō (JSP) Tadashi Amari (New Liberal Club) 37th 1983 Fumihiko Hashimoto (Kōmeitō) Mankichi Katō (JSP) Akira Amari (New Liberal Club) 38th 1986 Fumihiko Hashimoto (Kōmeitō) Mankichi Katō (JSP) Akira Amari (New Liberal Club) Masakata Tozawa (LDP) 39th 1990 Mankichi Katō (JSP) Nobuo Kawakami (Kōmeitō) Akira Amari (LDP) Hirohisa Fujii (LDP) 40th 1993 Hirohisa Fujii (Japan Renewal Party) Akira Amari (LDP) Nobuo Kawakami (Kōmeitō) Mankichi Katō (JSP) Akio Nakajima (Japan New Party)

Election results

1993 (40th general election) Rank Candidate Age Party Status Votes 1 Hirohisa Fujii 61 Japan Renewal Party Incumbent 132,236 2 Akira Amari 43 LDP Incumbent 129,149 3 Nobuo Kawakami 47 Kō meitō Incumbent 105,823 4 Mankichi Katō 66 JSP Incumbent 101,879 5 Akio Nakajima 57 Japan New Party New 100,032 6 Mitsuhiro Yokota 35 New Party Sakigake New 94,084 7 Kōji Kōno 47 JCP New 46,343 8 Shigeyuki Kadohiro 42 LDP New 41,791 9 Hisako Fujimura 49 Independent New 41,431

1990 (39th general election) Rank Candidate Age Party Status Votes 1 Mankichi Katō 63 JSP Incumbent 241,995 2 Nobuo Kawakami 43 Kōmeitō New 137,147 3 Akira Amari 40 LDP Incumbent 124,931 4 Hirohisa Fujii 57 LDP New 113,661 5 Masakata Tozawa 70 LDP Incumbent 106,512 6 Kōji Kōno 44 JCP New 64,612 7 Tomomasa Nakagawa 27 Truth Party New 1,445

1986 (38th general election) Rank Candidate Age Party Status Votes 1 Fumihiko Hashimoto 47 Kōmeitō Incumbent 140,930 2 Mankichi Katō 59 JSP Incumbent 136,369 3 Akira Amari 36 New Liberal Club Incumbent 125,563 4 Masakata Tozawa 67 LDP Former 121,846 5 Hirohisa Fujii 54 LDP New 95,331 6 Kōji Kōno 40 JCP New 56,971

1983 (37th general election) Rank Candidate Age Party Status Votes 1 Fumihiko Hashimoto 44 Kōmeitō New 147,500 2 Mankichi Katō 57 JSP Incumbent 130,501 3 Akira Amari 34 New Liberal Club New 125,939 4 Masakata Tozawa 64 LDP Incumbent 124,766 5 Kazuhiko Masumoto 47 JCP Former 71,463 6 Kyūshūo Shigematsu 71 Japan Yonaoshi Party New 1,968

1980 (36th general election) Rank Candidate Age Party Status Votes 1 Masakata Tozawa 61 LDP Incumbent 162,054 2 Mankichi Katō 53 JSP Incumbent 131,889 3 Tadashi Amari 63 New Liberal Club Former 128,587 4 Shinji Kohama 65 Kōmeitō Incumbent 128,067 5 Kazuhiko Masumoto 44 JCP Former 83,793 6 Shō Tōma 36 Japan Labor Party New 4,460

1979 (35th general election) Rank Candidate Age Party Status Votes 1 Shinji Kohama 64 Kōmeitō Former 123,389 2 Mankichi Katō 52 JSP Incumbent 110,137 3 Masakata Tozawa 60 LDP New 100,682 4 Tadashi Amari 62 New Liberal Club Incumbent 99,936 5 Kazuhiko Masumoto 43 JCP Former 73,433 6 Shō Tōma 36 Japan Labor Party New 2,965

1976 (34th general election) Rank Candidate Age Party Status Votes 1 Tadashi Amari 60 New Liberal Club New 162,029 2 Mankichi Katō 49 JSP Former 112,209 3 Masakata Tozawa 57 LDP New 110,585 4 Shinji Kohama 61 Kōmeitō Incumbent 108,182 5 Kazuhiko Masumoto 40 JCP Incumbent 82,525 6 Kyūshūo Shigematsu 64 Independent New 1,573 7 Kiyotoku Fukuda 43 Independent New 1,077

1972 (33rd general election) Rank Candidate Age Party Status Votes 1 Yōhei Kōno 35 LDP Incumbent 141,448 2 Shinji Kohama 57 Kōmeitō Incumbent 112,297 3 Kazuhiko Masumoto 36 JCP New 107,245 4 Takeshi Hirabayashi 51 JSP Incumbent 99,440 5 Masaru Kawamura 57 DSP Incumbent 97,436 6 Tadashi Amari 56 LDP New 96,592 7 Mankichi Katō 45 JSP Former 93,504 8 Yoshiteru Kogane 74 LDP Incumbent 79,624 9 Makoto Yamada 27 Independent New 11,403

1969 (32nd general election) Rank Candidate Age Party Status Votes 1 Yōhei Kō no 32 LDP Incumbent 100,216 2 Shinji Kohama 54 Kōmeitō Incumbent 99,341 3 Masaru Kawamura 54 DSP Incumbent 94,558 4 Yoshiteru Kogane 71 LDP Former 92,466 5 Takeshi Hirabayashi 48 JSP Incumbent 79,859 6 Tadashi Amari 53 LDP New 68,020 7 Mankichi Katō 43 JSP Incumbent 66,321 8 Kazuhiko Masumoto 33 JCP New 42,577 9 Tetsu Andō 40 Independent New 25,138 10 Kōzō Ōtsuka 45 Independent New 4,973

1967 (31st general election) Rank Candidate Age Party Status Votes 1 Yōhei Kōno 30 LDP New 106,827 2 Masaru Kawamura 51 DSP New 91,123 3 Mankichi Katō 40 JSP New 77,806 4 Takeshi Hirabayashi 45 JSP Incumbent 71,493 5 Shinji Kohama 51 Kōmeitō New 68,516 6 Satoru Andō 67 LDP Incumbent 67,336 7 Yoshiteru Kogane 68 LDP Incumbent 60,992 8 Gōsuke Kimura 49 LDP Incumbent 52,792 9 Takechiyo Uchino 65 JCP New 22,834

1963 (30th general election) Rank Candidate Age Party Status Votes 1 Ichirō Kōno 65 LDP Incumbent 98,830 2 Takeshi Hirabayashi 42 JSP New 61,765 3 Satoru Andō 64 LDP Incumbent 57,215 4 Gōsuke Kimura 45 LDP New 53,370 5 Yoshiteru Kogane 65 LDP Incumbent 52,275 6 Tetsu Katayama 76 DSP Incumbent 51,525 7 Morito Morishima 67 JSP Incumbent 44,506 8 Isamu Togawa 39 Independent New 19,871 9 Hideo Kanezō 50 Independent New 19,540 10 Takechiyo Uchino 62 JCP New 13,652 11 Seijirō Fukasaku 52 Parliamentary Democracy Defense League New 230

1960 (29th general election)