1960 Japanese general election

20 November 1960

All 467 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan
234 seats needed for a majority
Turnout73.5% (Decrease 3.5%)
  First party Second party
 
Leader Hayato Ikeda Saburō Eda
Party Liberal Democratic Socialist
Leader's seat Hiroshima–2nd Not contesting
(Councillor)
Seats won 296 145
Seat change Increase9 Decrease21
Popular vote 22,740,272 10,887,134
Percentage 57.6% 27.6%
Swing Decrease0.2pp Decrease5.4pp

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Suehiro Nishio Kenji Miyamoto
Party Democratic Socialist Communist
Leader's seat Osaka–2nd Did not contest
Seats won 17 3
Seat change New Increase2
Popular vote 3,464,148 1,156,723
Percentage 8.8% 2.9%
Swing New Increase0.4pp


Prime Minister before election

Hayato Ikeda
Liberal Democratic

Prime Minister after election

Hayato Ikeda
Liberal Democratic

General elections were held in Japan on 20 November 1960.[1] The result was a victory for the Liberal Democratic Party, which won 296 of the 467 seats. Voter turnout was 73.5%, the lowest since the 1947 general elections.[2]

Background

The elections came near the end of a turbulent year marked by violent labour disputes at Mitsui Miike Coal Mine, the "May 19th Incident" in which Nobusuke Kishi and LDP lawmakers in the Diet forced the revised US-Japan Security Treaty through parliament (causing an upsurge in the Anpo protests), and the assassination of Japan Socialist Party (JSP) leader Inejirō Asanuma by wakizashi-wielding right-wing youth named Otoya Yamaguchi. Prior to the elections there were a number of left-wing street protests and right-wing vigilante actions.

Campaign

As public antipathy was largely towards Kishi and his cabinet, rather than flagship LDP policies, the election was not a setback for the party. Kishi's successor, Hayato Ikeda, was popular for his moderate attitude and public image as a practical finance minister, and LDP candidates focused heavily on issues such as maintaining already-strong economic growth. Ikeda made a splash with his promise to double the national income in ten years, known as the "Income Doubling Plan," which also promised economic benefits such as tax cuts to small businesses, farmers, and consumers.

The LDP also benefitted from factionalism in the JSP, as the more moderate and anti-communist Democratic Socialist Party seceded from the JSP at the beginning of the year, leading to a spoiler effect.[2]

Results

Although the LDP saw a small reduction in its vote share compared to the 1958 elections and the JSP and DSP collectively received around 1.3 million more votes than the united JSP did in the 1958 elections, the LDP gained nine seats, while the JSP and DSP lost a net four seats.

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Liberal Democratic Party22,740,27257.56296+9
Japan Socialist Party10,887,13427.56145–21
Democratic Socialist Party3,464,1488.7717New
Japanese Communist Party1,156,7232.933+2
Other parties141,9410.361
Independents1,118,9052.835–7
Total39,509,123100.004670
Valid votes39,509,12398.97
Invalid/blank votes410,9961.03
Total votes39,920,119100.00
Registered voters/turnout54,312,99373.50
Source: Baerwald, Mackie

By prefecture

Prefecture Total
seats
Seats won
LDP JSP DSP JCP Others Ind.
Aichi 19 12 6 1
Akita 8 5 3
Aomori 7 6 1
Chiba 13 10 3
Ehime 9 7 2
Fukui 4 3 1
Fukuoka 19 10 7 2
Fukushima 12 7 4 1
Gifu 9 5 3 1
Gunma 10 6 4
Hiroshima 12 8 3 1
Hokkaido 22 12 10
Hyōgo 18 10 6 1 1
Ibaraki 12 9 3
Ishikawa 6 5 1
Iwate 8 6 2
Kagawa 6 4 1 1
Kagoshima 11 9 2
Kanagawa 13 8 3 2
Kōchi 5 4 1
Kumamoto 10 7 3
Kyoto 10 4 3 2 1
Mie 9 5 2 1 1
Miyagi 9 6 3
Miyazaki 6 4 2
Nagano 13 8 5
Nagasaki 9 6 3
Nara 5 4 1
Niigata 15 8 7
Ōita 7 5 2
Okayama 10 7 3
Osaka 19 7 7 3 2
Saga 5 3 1 1
Saitama 13 8 4 1
Shiga 5 2 2 1
Shimane 5 4 1
Shizuoka 14 10 4
Tochigi 10 6 4
Tokushima 5 4 1
Tokyo 27 15 11 1
Tottori 4 3 1
Toyama 6 4 2
Wakayama 6 4 2
Yamagata 8 6 2
Yamaguchi 9 6 2 1
Yamanashi 5 4 1
Total 467 296 145 17 3 1 5

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p363 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
  2. 1 2 Douglas H. Mendel, Jr. (1961). "Behind the 1960 Japanese Diet Election". Asian Survey. 1 (1): 3–12. doi:10.2307/3023661. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 3023661.
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