Next Japanese general election

The 49th general election of members of the House of Representatives (Japanese: 第49回衆議院議員総選挙, Hepburn: dai-yonjūkyūkai Shūgiin giin sōsenkyo) is scheduled on or before 22 October 2021, as required by the Constitution of Japan. Voting will take place in all Representatives constituencies of Japan including proportional blocks, in order to appoint Members of Diet to seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. As the cabinet has to resign after a general House of Representatives election in the first post-election Diet session (Constitution, Article 70), the lower house election will also lead to a new designation election of the Prime Minister in the Diet, and the appointment of a new cabinet (even if the same ministers are re-appointed).

Next Japanese general election

On or before 22 October 2021
All 465 seats to the House of Representatives of Japan 233 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Leader Shinzō Abe Yukio Edano Yuichiro Tamaki Party Liberal Democratic Constitutional Democratic Democratic for the People Leader since 26 September 2012 2 October 2017 7 May 2018 Leader's seat Yamaguchi-4th Saitama-5th Kagawa-2nd Last election 284 seats, 33.28% 55 seats, 19.88% New party[lower-alpha 1] Current seats 283 68 40 Seats needed 165 193   Leader Natsuo Yamaguchi Kazuo Shii Ichirō Matsui Toranosuke Katayama Party Komeito Communist Ishin Leader since 8 September 2009 24 November 2000 2 November 2015 Leader's seat Not contesting (Councillor) Minami-Kantō PR Not contesting (Mayor of Osaka) Last election 29 seats, 12.51% 12 seats, 7.90% 11 seats, 6.07% Current seats 29 12 11 Seats needed 204 221 N/A[lower-alpha 2]   Leader Mizuho Fukushima Nariaki Nakayama Takashi Tachibana Party Social Democratic Kibō Protect the People from NHK Leader since 22 February 2020 28 May 2019 17 June 2013 Leader's seat Not contesting (Councillor) Kyūshū PR None Last election 2 seats, 1.69% New party[lower-alpha 3] Did not contest Current seats 2 2 1 Seats needed 231 231 232
Parliamentary districts not including proportional blocks
Incumbent Prime Minister Shinzō Abe Liberal Democratic

Election date

Under the post-occupation interpretation of Article 7 of the Constitution, the cabinet may instruct the Emperor to dissolve the House of Representatives before the end of term at will. Elections must be held within 40 days after dissolution.

The only time in postwar history that the House of Representatives was not dissolved before the end of its term was in 1976. If the House of Representatives completes a full four-year term, the election must be held within 30 days before that.[1]

Current composition

Composition of the House of Representatives of Japan (as of 17 April 2020 before 200th National Diet)[2]

In-House Groups [innai] kaiha		Parties	Representatives
	Liberal Democratic Party Jiyūminshutō・mushozoku no kai (lit. "Liberal Democratic Party/Association of Independents")	LDP, independents	284
	The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, The Democratic Party For the People, The Reviewing Group on Social Security Policy, and the Independents Forum Rikken-minshu・Kokumin・Shaho・mushozoku fōramu ("Constitutional Democratic/People's/Soc[ial]-Sec[urity]/Independent Forum")	CDP, DPFP, SDP, independents	119
	Komeito Kōmeitō	Kōmeitō	29
	Japanese Communist Party Nihon Kyōsantō	JCP	12
	Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) Nippon Ishin no Kai	Ishin, independent	11
	The Party of Hope Kibō no Tō	Kibō	2
	Independents Members not affiliated with a parliamentary group/non-inscrits	LDP (Speaker), CDP (Vice-Speaker), N-Koku, independents	7
Total			465

Opinion polls

Main article: Opinion polling for the next Japanese general election

See also

• Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution Referendum

Notes

1. Democratic Party merged with Kibō no Tō in May 2018, forming the Democratic Party for the People.
2. The party only runs candidates in Osaka Prefecture, and as such is unable to obtain enough seats for a majority alone.
3. After the DPFP merger, Kibō was re-established in a new form.

References

1. "公職選挙法". Archived from the original on 2016-07-29. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
2. House of Representatives: Strength of the In-House Groups in the House of Representatives (Japanese original which is updated more frequently and also contains lists of individual members for each group), retrieved 16 October, 2019.