Okinawa at-large district

The Okinawa at-large district is a constituency of the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan (national legislature). It consists of the entire prefecture of Okinawa and was created in 1970 following the agreement between US president Richard Nixon and prime minister Eisaku Satō on restoration of Japanese sovereignty over the Ryūkyū islands. Okinawa is represented by two Councillors electing one every three years.

Single-member districts for the House of Councillors ([参議院]一人区, [sangiin] ichininku) usually get higher attention in House of Councillors elections because they are easier to swing completely than multi-member districts and thus play a decisive role for the outcome of elections. As a result of the concentrated US military presence in Okinawa, the prefecture has become a focal point of political debate over the mutual security treaty which is the cornerstone of Japanese foreign policy. The district was in many elections contested between only two candidates backed by the major postwar parties, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Socialist Party (JSP). The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) in Okinawa unlike in most other districts for national elections cooperated with the Socialists in nominating candidates in the form of the Kakushin Tōitsu (革新統一, "progressive unification").

Current Councillors for Okinawa are:

• Yōichi Iha (Independent; term ends 2022), elected in 2016. A member of the Okinawa Whirlwind caucus in the Diet.
• Tetsumi Takara (Independent; term ends 2025), elected in 2019.

Elected Councillors

class of 1974	election year	class of 1971
#1 (1970: #1, 4-year term)		#1 (1970: #2, 1-year term)
Shin’ei Kyan (Indep.)	1970 by-election[1]	Ichirō Inamine (LDP)
	1971[2]
	1974[3]
	1977[4]
	1980[5]
Shinjun Ōgi (LDP)	1982 by-election[6]
	1983[7]	Shin’ei Kyan (Indep.*)
	1986[8]
	1989[9]
Kōsō Shimabuku (Others*)	1992[10]
	1995[11]	Kantoku Teruya (Indep.)
	1998[12]
	2001[13]	Junshirō Nishime (LDP)
Keiko Itokazu (Indep.*)	2004[14]
Aiko Shimajiri (Others*→LDP)	2007 by-election[15]
	2007[16]	Keiko Itokazu (Indep.*)
	2010[17]
	2013[18]
Yōichi Iha (Indep.)	2016[19]
	2019[20]	Tetsumi Takara (Indep.)

References

1. 参議院>第8回参議院議員補欠選挙. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Archived from the original on 2010-03-15. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
2. 参議院>第9回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
3. 参議院>第10回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
4. 参議院>第11回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
5. 参議院>第12回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
6. 参議院>第12回参議院議員補欠選挙. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Archived from the original on 2010-03-15. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
7. 参議院>第13回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
8. 参議院>第14回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
9. 参議院>第15回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
10. 参議院>第16回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
11. 参議院>第17回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
12. 参議院>第18回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
13. 参議院>第19回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
14. 参議院>第20回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
15. 参議院>第20回参議院議員補欠選挙. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
16. 参議院>第21回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
17. 参議院>第22回参議院議員選挙>沖縄選挙区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). JANJAN. Retrieved 2010-01-02.
18. "選挙区 沖縄 選挙結果 参議院選挙（参院選）2013" [Okinawa At-large district election results, 2013 House of Councillors election]. Yomiuri Shimbun. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
19. "沖縄＝開票速報－2016参議院選挙" [Okinawa At-large district election results, 2016 House of Councillors election]. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 March 2018.
20. NHK, House of Councillors election 2019: Results in Okinawa