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1890 Japanese general election

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Field	Value
country	Empire of Japan
type	parliamentary
next_election	1892 Japanese general election
next_year	1892
seats_for_election	All 300 seats in the House of Representatives
majority_seats	151
election_date	1 July 1890
image1	ITAGAKI Taisuke.jpg
leader1	Itagaki Taisuke
party1	Liberal Party (Japan, 1890)
seats1	130
image2	Masuda Shigeyuki.jpg
leader2	Shigeyuki Masuda
party2	Taiseikai
color2	CC88CC
seats2	79
image4	Shigenobu Okuma 2.jpg
leader4	Ōkuma Shigenobu
party4	Rikken Kaishintō
color4	cd5c5c
seats4	41
seats5	5
party5	Kokumin Jiyutō
title	Prime Minister
posttitle	Prime Minister after election
before_election	Yamagata Aritomo
before_party	Independent (politician)
after_election	Yamagata Aritomo
after_party	Independent (politician)

General elections were held in Japan for the first time on 1 July 1890. Voters elected 300 members of the House of Representatives of the Diet of Japan in what was the first example of a popularly elected national assembly in Asia (as the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies was elected indirectly).

Background

The elections for the lower house of the Diet were held in accordance with provisions of the new Meiji Constitution, which had been promulgated in 1889.

The elections had limited suffrage, with only male citizens 25 years of age and over, who had paid 15 Japanese Yen or more in national taxes, and who had been resident in their prefecture for at least a year, qualified to vote. The number of eligible voters who met this requirement was 450,872 people out of a total Japanese population of 39,933,478 (1.13%). The high tax requirement meant that voter roles were heavily weighed towards rural landlords and urban entrepreneurs. In terms of social class, 91% were commoners, and 9% were ex-samurai. Residents of the prefectures in Honshū, Kyūshū and Shikoku participated; residents in Hokkaidō and Okinawa (as “territories”) were excluded from this election. About 95% of those eligible to vote actually cast ballots, although there was no penalty for not doing so.

Only male citizens 30 years of age and over, who were not members of the kazoku peerage or of the imperial family or its branches were allowed to become candidates for office in the lower house. The number of seats in the lower house was 300, divided into 214 single-seat districts and 43 two-seat districts, which were contested by 1,243 candidates. The election went smoothly and without violence reported.

Results

Post-election composition by prefecture

Prefecture	Total
seats	Seats won	Liberal	Taiseikai	Rikken Kaishintō	Kokumin Jiyutō	Ind.	Liberal Party (Japan, 1890)}};"	Taiseikai}};"	Rikken Kaishintō}};"	Kokumin Jiyutō}};"	Independent}};"	Aichi	11	Akita	5	Aomori	4	Chiba	9	Ehime	7	Fukui	4	Fukuoka	9	Fukushima	7	Gifu	7	Gunma	5	Hiroshima	10	Hyōgo	12	Ibaraki	8	Ishikawa	6	Iwate	5	Kagawa	5	Kagoshima	7	Kanagawa	7	Kōchi	4	Kumamoto	8	Kyoto	7	Mie	7	Miyagi	5	Miyazaki	3	Nagano	8	Nagasaki	7	Nara	4	Niigata	13	Ōita	6	Okayama	8	Osaka	10	Saga	4	Saitama	8	Shiga	5	Shimane	6	Shizuoka	8	Tochigi	5	Tokushima	5	Tokyo	12	Tottori	3	Toyama	5	Wakayama	5	Yamagata	6	Yamaguchi	7	Yamanashi	3	Total	300	127	78	44	5	46
2	9	0	0	0
3	2	0	0	0
4	0	0	0	0
4	0	3	0	2
5	0	2	0	0
4	0	0	0	0
2	5	0	0	2
2	5	0	0	0
1	5	0	0	1
4	1	0	0	0
1	2	2	0	5
6	0	5	0	1
2	1	3	0	2
2	0	2	1	1
4	1	0	0	0
3	0	1	0	1
7	0	0	0	0
6	0	1	0	0
4	0	0	0	0
2	1	0	4	1
1	5	0	0	1
3	1	2	0	1
1	4	0	0	0
3	0	0	0	0
5	2	0	0	1
5	1	0	0	1
2	0	1	0	1
9	0	3	0	1
1	4	1	0	0
3	4	1	0	0
6	4	0	0	0
1	0	3	0	0
4	1	2	0	1
1	4	0	0	0
0	5	0	0	1
2	4	2	0	0
4	0	1	0	0
1	0	3	0	1
2	4	3	0	3
0	2	0	0	1
1	0	3	0	1
0	0	0	0	5
4	0	0	0	2
0	0	0	0	7
0	1	0	0	2
Note: Party affiliation after the general election.

Aftermath

In August, all progressive parties (mintō) that won seats(Kaishintō, Kyūshū Dōshikai, Daidō Club, Jiyutō and Aikoku Kōtō) tried to negotiate a merge, but Kaishintō withdrew after Daidō Club, Jiyūtō and Aikoku Kōtō voiced against its participation. The 4 remaining parties then merged to form the Rikken Jiyutō, which in turn formed a parliamentary bloc called Yayoi Club (). Kaishintō formed its own parliamentary bloc Giin Shūkaisho () as well. On the other hand, a group of 79 deputies who called for political neutrality formed Taiseikai () in August, and 5 nationalist-liberal deputies formed Kokumin Jiyutō () in December, a few days after the first session summoned.

Parliamentary bloc members

Session	Yayoi Club	Giin Shūkaisho	Taiseikai	Kokumin Jiyutō	Jiyu Club	Tomoe Club	Dokuritsu Club	Non-Affiliated
1st
29 November 1890 - 7 March 1891	130	40	79	5	0	0	0	42
2nd
26 November - 25 December 1891	92	44	52	0	25	17	19	51

Notes

References

{{cite book | author-link = Marius Jansen
{{cite book
{{cite book | author-link = Donald Keene
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{{cite book | url-access = registration

References

[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D06E4DA133BE533A25752C3A9619C94619ED7CF The First Japanese Election] ''The New York Times'', 31 July 1890
Jansen. ''Cambridge History of Japan Vol. 5: The Nineteenth Century''. Page 670.
Meyer. Japan: A Concise History. Page 144
Keane. ''Emperor of Japan:Meiji and his World''. Page 435.
Mason. Japan's ''First General Election, 1890''.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20130201135140/https://www.stat.go.jp/data/chouki/zuhyou/27-07.xls Statistics Bureau of Japan]

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