1937 Japanese general election

30 April 1937
All 466 seats in the House of Representatives 234 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	71.64% (7.00pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Machida Chūji Various[1] Abe Isoo Party Rikken Minseitō Rikken Seiyūkai Shakai Taishūtō Leader's seat Akita-1 Tōkyō-2 Last election 205 174 18 Seats won 179 175 37 Seat change 26 1 19 Popular vote 3,689,355 3,594,863 928,934 Percentage 36.16% 35.23% 9.10% Swing 3.76pp 2.39pp 4.44pp'   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   SWK Leader Vacant Adachi Kenzō Nakano Seigō Party Shōwakai Kokumin Dōmei Tōhōkai Leader's seat Kumamoto-1 Fukuoka-1 Last election 20 15 – Seats won 18 11 11 Seat change 2 4 New party Popular vote 928,934 281,834 221,455 Percentage 4.06% 2.76% 2.17% Swing 0.72pp 1.03pp New party
Prime Minister before election Senjūrō Hayashi Imperial Japanese Army Prime Minister after election Senjūrō Hayashi Imperial Japanese Army

General elections were held in Japan on 31 March 1937. Rikken Minseitō emerged as the largest in Parliament, with 179 of the 466 seats. The election was a major victory for the Shakai Taishūtō, which became the third-largest party in the Diet. It was the first socialist party to do so in Japanese history. In contrast, the mildly pro-military Rikken Minseitō lost several seats and fascist groups such as Tōhōkai remained minor forces in the House. A month after the election, the Emperor replaced Hayashi with Fumimaro Konoe. Voter turnout was 73.3%.^[2]

Background

In February 1937, General Senjūrō Hayashi was appointed prime minister. Just days after taking office and having the Diet enact a budget bill, he ordered a dissolution of the House of Representatives, hoping to weaken the major political parties. The act was opposed by the major political parties as well as by the general public, and quickly became known as the "dine and dash dissolution" (食い逃げ解散, kui-nige kaisan).

In 1941, the Diet under the Konoe government passed a law extending the term of the Representatives from four years to five (衆議院議員任期延長ニ関スル法律). This allowed time to solidify the control of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association over Japanese politics. The Association effectively replaced all political parties in Japan and subsequently dominated the 1942 general election, although numerous factions developed within the Association's caucus in the House. The term extension was effectively repealed by the Constitution of Japan in 1947, which returned the representatives' term of office to 4 years.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Rikken Minseitō	3,689,355	36.16	179	–26
	Rikken Seiyūkai	3,594,863	35.23	175	+1
	Shakai Taishūtō	928,934	9.10	37	+19
	Shōwakai	414,088	4.06	19	–1
	Kokumin Dōmei	281,834	2.76	11	–4
	Tōhōkai	221,455	2.17	11	New
	Others	1,073,157	10.52	34	0
Total		10,203,686	100.00	466	0
Valid votes		10,203,686	98.89
Invalid/blank votes		114,116	1.11
Total votes		10,317,802	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		14,402,497	71.64
Source: Mackie & Rose,[3] Voice Japan

References