Tokyo prefectural parliamentary election 2009

The 2009 Tokyo Prefectural Parliamentary Election ( Japanese 2009 年 東京 都 議会 議員 選 挙 , 2009-nen Tōkyō-togikai giinenkyo ) took place on July 12, 2009. All 127 seats in the parliament of the Japanese prefecture of Tokyo were eligible for election through non-transferable individual votes in 35 multi-mandate and seven single- mandate constituencies. 10.6 million Tokyo residents were eligible to vote, an increase of 230 thousand compared to 2005.

History and election campaign

Since 1965, Tokyo Prefecture has not voted for its parliament in uniform regional elections. Because of this, and because Tokyo is the most populous prefecture and the seat of the national parliament and central government, the elections to the prefectural parliament usually attract a lot of national attention. In 2009, the nationally ruling Asō cabinet from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Kōmeitō was in a low poll and faced calls for new elections. The national opposition, led by the Democratic Party (DPJ), has controlled the Sangiin , the upper house of the national parliament, since 2007 and was thus able to delay legal proceedings .

The official election campaign began on July 3, 2009. Numerous prominent national politicians were involved in the Tokyo election campaign. Local topics included the move of the Tsukiji market planned by Governor Shintaro Ishihara and the 2016 Olympic bid .

The LDP and DPJ each nominated 58 candidates, the Communist Party of Japan (CPJ) 40 and the Kōmeitō 23. There were also 20 candidates from other parties and 22 independent candidates for a seat in Shinjuku's parliament.

Election result

In 2009, over 800,000 voters took the opportunity to vote early. Overall, voter turnout rose to 54.49%, the second highest level ever since the 1989 election .

For the first time since 1969, the LDP lost its status as the strongest party in Tokyo.

Political party		be right	proportion of	Seats	modification
	Liberal Democratic Party	1,458,108.233	25.88%	38	−10
	Democratic Party	2,298,494.617	40.79%	54	+20
	Kōmeitō	743,427.674	13.19%	23	+1
	Communist Party of Japan	707,602.497	12.56%	8th	−5
	Tōkyō Seikatsusha Network	110,407, 000	1.96%	2	−2
	Others	65,413,526	1.17%	0	−1
	Independent	250,869,445	4.45%	2	−1
total		5,634,322,992	100.00%	127	+2 (vacancies)

See Elections in Japan: “Proportional Fractional Votes” for an explanation of the decimal places. The change in the number of seats is indicated compared to the composition before the election.

Constituencies

Especially in the western districts and the suburbs of Tokyo, the DPJ was able to achieve a clear advantage in terms of seats over the LDP, but the LDP also lost the individual constituencies in the city center and several seats in the more populous districts in the northeast. In all two-mandate constituencies the DPJ was ahead of the LDP candidate. The LDP was only able to win more seats than the DPJ in the Ōta district and in the island constituency. The Kōmeitō managed to get all the nominees into parliament.

Party affiliation of the 2009 election winners

Tama area				Tokyo and islands
Ōme	North Tama 1	North Tama 4			Itabashi	Day care center	Arakawa	Adachi	Katsushika
West Tama	Tachikawa	Kodaira	Nishitōkyō	Nerima	Toshima	Bunkyō	Taitō	Sumida	Edogawa
Akishima	North Tama 2	Koganei	Musashino	Nakano	Shinjuku	Chiyoda	Chūō	Kōtō
	Hino	Foxu	Mitaka	Suginami	Shibuya	Minato		Party affiliation of the election winners (as of election day) Liberal Democratic Party Democratic Party Kōmeitō Communist Party of Japan Tōkyō Seikatsusha Network Independent
	Hachiōji	South Tama	North Tama 3	Setagaya	Meguro	Shinagawa
	Machida				Ōta		Islands

The composition of the constituencies, which are not congruent with municipalities, was as follows:

• Nishitama constituency ("West Tama " corresponds to the earlier composition of the district of the same name (gun) without the city of Ōme): Fussa , Hamura , Akiruno , Hinohara , Hinode , Mizuho , Okutama
• Minamitama constituency ("South Tama", corresponds to the last composition of the district of the same name ): Tama , Inagi
• Kitatama constituency ("North Tama", after the former district of the same name ) 1: Higashimurayama , Higashiyamato , Musashimurayama
• Kitatama 2 constituency: Kokubunji , Kunitachi
• Kitatama constituency 3: Chofu , Komae
• Kitatama constituency 4: Kiyose , Higashikurume
• Island constituencies: Aogashima , Hachijō , Mikurajima , Miyake , Ogasawara , Kozushima , Niijima , Ōshima , Toshima

With the exception of Ōta, where the two previous Democratic MPs received the ninth and tenth highest share of the vote and were eliminated, all of the DPJ MPs who were running again were confirmed in office. 22 DPJ candidates were elected to parliament for the first time. Nine MPs from the LDP and six from the CPJ, as well as two independents and two others, including Yūichi Gotō, the chairman and sole MP of Gyōkaku hyakutō-ban ("Administrative Reform 110") were voted out . One of the most prominent losers was Shigeru Uchida in Chiyoda, general secretary of the LDP prefectural association and former speaker of parliament. The 70-year-old lost the constituency after six terms by 176 votes to the 26-year-old Democrat Zenkō Kurishita. The LDP had last lost Chiyoda in 1959.

Constituencies with elected office holders and elected representatives for the first time

Political party		Constituencies with
		elected office holders	first-time elected MPs ( shinjin )
	Liberal Democratic Party	Chiyoda Chūō Shinjuku Setagaya Arakawa Adachi Katsushika Hachiōji Ōme	Shinjuku Sumida Kōtō North Tama 1
	Democratic Party	Ōta: 2	Chiyoda Chūō Shinagawa Ōta: 2 Setagaya Nakano Arakawa Nerima: 2 Adachi Katsushika Edogawa: 2 Hachiōji Mitaka Ōme Fuchū Hino North Tama 2 West Tama South Tama
	Kōmeitō		Sumida Meguro Setagaya Nerima
	Communist Party of Japan	Bunkyō Nakano Kita Nerima Edogawa Hino	Kōtō Adachi
	Tōkyō Seikatsusha Network	South Tama	North Tama 2
	Independent and other	Setagaya (Gyōkaku 110) Mitaka Fuchū	Akishima

Effects

The chairman of the LDP Tokyo, Governor Ishihara's eldest son Nobuteru , announced his resignation, but later remained chairman. Prime Minister Tarō Asō came under pressure to resign from within his own ranks and dissolved the Shūgiin. In the resulting Shūgiin election in 2009 , the LDP lost government participation for the first time since 1994.

The Democrat Ryō Tanaka (Suginami constituency) was elected President of Parliament, Kantarō Suzuki (Kōmeitō, Arakawa) was elected as Vice President.

Web links

• Tokyo Prefecture Electoral Oversight Commission : 都 議会 議員 選 挙 （平 成 21 年 7 月 12 日 執行） 投 開票 結果 (voter turnout and results), accessed October 11, 2018
• Yomiuri Shimbun : 東京 都 議 選 ２００９ (election feature) ( Memento from August 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
• Asahi Shimbun : Election Special

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 自 民 都 連 幹事 長 が 落選 要職 歴 任 の 内 田茂氏 . In: 47 News / Kyōdō Tsūshin . July 12, 2009, Retrieved March 4, 2011 (Japanese).