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1946 Japanese general election

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Field	Value
country	Japan
flag_year	1870
type	parliamentary
previous_election	1942 Japanese general election
previous_year	1942
election_date	10 April 1946
next_election	1947 Japanese general election
next_year	1947
registered	36,878,417 152.7%
seats_for_election	All 468 seats in the House of Representatives
majority_seats	235
turnout	72.08% 11.08 pp
image1
leader1	Ichirō Hatoyama
party1	Liberal Party (Japan, 1945)
seats1	141
popular_vote1	13,505,746
percentage1	24.36%
image2
leader2	Chūji Machida
party2	Japan Progressive Party
seats2	94
popular_vote2	10,350,530
percentage2	18.67%
image3
leader3	Tetsu Katayama
party3	Japan Socialist Party
seats3	93
popular_vote3	9,924,930
percentage3	17.90%
image4	File:Yamamoto Sanehiko.jpg
leader4
party4	Cooperative
seats4	14
percentage4	3.35%
popular_vote4	1,799,764
party5	Japanese Communist Party
popular_vote5	2,135,757
percentage5	3.85%
seats5	5
image5	File:TOKUDA Kyuichi.jpg
leader5	Kyuichi Tokuda
map	[[File:1946 JAPAN GENERAL ELECTION, combined vote share.svg	400px]]
map_caption	Districts shaded according to winners' vote strength
title	Prime Minister
before_election	Kijūrō Shidehara
before_party	Independent
after_election	Shigeru Yoshida
after_party	Liberal Party (Japan, 1945)

General elections were held in Japan on 10 April 1946, the first after World War II, during the Allied occupation. All 468 seats in the House of Representatives were elected by limited voting. The result was a victory for the Liberal Party, which won 141 of the 468 seats. Voter turnout was 72.1 percent.

Background

Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara, who had been appointed by the Emperor Hirohito in October 1945, dissolved the House of Representatives in December 1945. Shidehara had been working with Allied occupation commander Douglas MacArthur to implement a new constitution and other political reforms.

In the months following the war, the Imperial Rule Assistance Association caucus broke up and three major political parties emerged in the Diet, loosely based around the major parties that stood in the 1937 election prior to the war. The Liberal Party was mainly composed of former Rikken Seiyūkai members, while the Progressive Party was mainly composed of former Rikken Minseitō members and the Socialist Party was mainly composed of former Shakai Taishūtō members.

This was the first time Japanese women were allowed to vote. 39 women were elected to office; this was the largest number of women deputies elected until 2005. On the other hand, Taiwanese and Koreans in Japan had their rights to vote and to run for office suspended inasmuch as their home territories had ceased to be part of Japan.

The electoral system use was a special type of Limited voting with district magnitude mostly ranging from 6 to 23, many parties (usually 4 to 7 or more) elected representatives in almost every district.

Following the election, there was a brief attempt to have Shidehara join the Progressive Party and remain in power, which the other major parties opposed. The Liberals and Progressives agreed to form a government under Liberal leader Ichiro Hatoyama on 2 May, but Hatoyama was promptly purged on 4 May and a new government formed under Foreign Minister Shigeru Yoshida, who officially became Prime Minister on 22 May.

Results

By prefecture

Prefecture	Total
seats	Seats won	Liberal	Progressive	Socialist	Communist	Cooperative	Others	Ind.	Vacant	Liberal Party (Japan, 1945)}};"	Japan Progressive Party}};"	Japan Socialist Party}};"	Japanese Communist Party}};"	Japan Cooperative Party (1945–46)}};"	Independent}};"	Aichi	18	Akita	8	Aomori	7	Chiba	13	Ehime	9	Fukui	5	Fukuoka	18	Fukushima	13	Gifu	10	Gunma	10	Hiroshima	12	Hokkaido	23	Hyōgo	18	Ibaraki	13	Ishikawa	6	Iwate	8	Kagawa	6	Kagoshima	11	Kanagawa	12	Kōchi	5	Kumamoto	10	Kyoto	10	Mie	9	Miyagi	9	Miyazaki	6	Nagano	14	Nagasaki	8	Nara	5	Niigata	15	Ōita	7	Okayama	10	Okinawa	2	Osaka	18	Saga	5	Saitama	13	Shiga	6	Shimane	6	Shizuoka	14	Tochigi	10	Tokushima	5	Tokyo	22	Tottori	4	Toyama	6	Wakayama	6	Yamagata	9	Yamaguchi	9	Yamanashi	5	Total	468	140	94	92	5	14	38	81	4
4	5	3			2	4
1	1	3			2	1
2	3	1				1
6	2	1			1	3
2	4	2			1
1	1					2	1
2	5	8				3
4	7	2
5	2	1				2
1	5	3				1
3	1	3			2	3
6		4	1	7	3	2
5	7	4		1		1
4	5	1				3
3		1				2
4	2	2
3		2				1
1	2	1		2	3	2
6		4			1	1
2	1	2
4	2	1				3
3	1	3				3
1	4	1			1	2
3	1	1			3	1
					4	2
2	1	3	1	1	1	5
5	1	1				1
1	1			1		2
5	5	4				1
2	2				2	1
3	2	2				3
							2
3	4	5	1		3	2
2	2					1
8	2	2			1
3		2				1
1	2	2				1
7		3		1	1	2
2	4	2		1	1
						5
7	1	9	2		2		1
1	1					2
1	2				2	1
3	1					2
3	1	1			1	3
4		1			1	3
1	1	2				1

Notes

References

[[Dieter Nohlen]], Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p381 {{ISBN. 0-19-924959-8
Tyson, Robert. ""Various voting methods"". Arena.
[https://www.e-elgar.com/assets/Companion-Pages/Oscarsson-HbkPolitical/caa3f6139f/18-Chapter-18_Appendix.pdf Oscarsson]

Info: Wikipedia Source

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