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JAPAN

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At stake in this election:

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: Emperor AKIHITO
Head of Government: Prime Minister Junichiro KOIZUMI
Assembly: Japan has a bicameral Diet (Kokkai) which consists of the House of Councilors (Sangi-in) with 247 seats and the House of Representatives (Shugi-in) with 480 seats.

Description of electoral structure:

In the House of Councilors, approximately half the members are elected every three years. In this election, 73 are by simple majority vote in the local constituencies and the remaining 48 are elected via proportional representation from a nationwide constituency. All 247 members serve a six-year term.
In the House of Representatives, 300 members are elected by simple majority vote in single-member constituencies and the remaining 180 are elected by a party-list proportional from 11 regional constituencies. All members serve four-year terms.

Results from the parliamentary race:

Party: Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
Leader: Junichiro KOIZUMI
Seats won in this election: 114
Seats won in last election: 115
Party: Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)*
Leader: Yukio HATOYAMA
Seats won in this election: 79
Seats won in last election: 60
Party: New Komeito Party
Leader: Takenori KANZAKI
Seats won in this election: 24
Seats won in last election: 24
Party: Japan Communist Party (JCP)
Leader: Tetsuzo FUWA
Seats won in this election: 9
Seats won in last election: 20
Party: Social Democratic Party (SDP)
Leader: Takako DOI
Seats won in this election: 0
Seats won in last election: 8

*Note: The Liberal Party, which won 8 seats in the 2001 election, recently merged with the Democratic Party (DPJ).

When was the last election?

The last time Japan held elections for the House of Councilors was on July 29, 2001.

Population and number of eligible voters:

Population: 127,214,499 (July 2003 estimate)
Number of registered voters: 100,433,798 (Based on the 2000 parliamentary elections)

Is there anything unique about this upcoming election that would be of interest to an international audience?

On June 16, the Diet announced that elections for the House of Councilors would be held on July 11, 2004.
Major issues that surrounded the elections included the economy, the pension system, education, and Japan’s status in its involvement within Iraq.

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTION SYSTEMS (IFES)

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: IFES ELECTIONGUIDE ONLINE