Uniform regional elections in Japan 2015
The 18th uniform regional elections ( Japanese 第 18 回 統一 地方 選 挙 , dai-jūhachikai tōitsu chihōhung ) in Japan for heads of administration and parliaments of the regional authorities for four-year terms took place on April 12 (prefectures and cities) and April 26 (all other municipalities ) Took place in 2015. The choices were:
- in prefectures (total (since 1972) 1 -to, 1 -dō, 2 -fu, 43 -ken) on April 12th
- in municipalities (total (as of March 1, 2015) 790 -shi (including 20 designated cities ), 23 -ku, 928 -chō and -son)
- over 200 mayors, including five in major cities, and
- over 600 parliaments, including 17 in large cities.
Voter turnout fell across the country and reached record lows in many places, and the number of votes dropped due to a lack of opposing candidates rose. The re-running incumbents prevailed in all ten gubernatorial elections. In most of the prefectural parliamentary elections , the LDP remained the strongest party and won 50% of the seats nationwide; the DP recorded significant losses and only had 12% of the national parliamentarians, the CPJ gained ; In Osaka , the Ōsaka Ishin no Kai , Governor Matsui's local party , remained the strongest force, but, unlike in 2011, missed an absolute majority. In the mayoral elections in the designated cities of Sagamihara (Kanagawa), Shizuoka and Hamamatsu (both in Shizuoka ) and Hiroshima ( Hiroshima ), the incumbents were re-elected, in Sapporo (Hokkaidō) the former vice mayor Katsuhiro, supported by the national opposition parties and the outgoing mayor Uatsuhiro, won Akimoto . In the parliamentary elections in designated cities, the LDP won a total of 29% of the seats nationwide, the DP 12%. The LDP usually remained the strongest party; in the city parliaments of Osaka and Sakai , the Ishin no Kai was able to remain the strongest party, as in the prefectural parliament of Osaka, but it clearly missed out on absolute majorities.
Web links
- Sōmushō ("Ministry of General Affairs", English "Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication"), March 25, 2015: 平 成 27 年 統一 地方 選 挙 執行 予 定 定 団 体 に 関 す る 調 (Statistics for the unified regional elections 2015, as of March 1, 2015 )
- Official campaigning for nationwide local polls kicks off. In: The Japan Times . March 26, 2015, accessed March 27, 2015 .
- Portals of large newspapers with results and articles
- Asahi Shimbun : Unified regional elections 2015 (Japanese)
- Yomiuri Shimbun : Uniform regional elections 2015 (Japanese)