2017 Japanese general election explained

Country:	Japan
Type:	parliamentary
Previous Election:	2014 Japanese general election
Previous Year:	2014
Election Date:	22 October 2017
Next Election:	2021 Japanese general election
Next Year:	2021
Previous Mps:	Representatives elected in the Japanese general election, 2014
Elected Mps:	Representatives elected in the Japanese general election, 2017
Seats For Election:	All 465 seats in the House of Representatives
Majority Seats:	233
Turnout:	53.68% (1.03pp; Const. votes) 53.68% (1.03pp; PR votes)
1Blank:	Constituency vote
2Blank:	% and swing
3Blank:	Regional vote
4Blank:	% and swing
Leader1:	Shinzō Abe
Party1:	Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
Last Election1:	291 seats
Seats1:	284
Seat Change1:	7
1Data1:	26,500,777
2Data1:	47.82% (0.28pp)
3Data1:	18,555,717
4Data1:	33.28% (0.17pp)
Leader2:	Yukio Edano
Party2:	Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan
Last Election2:	Did not exist
Seats2:	55
Seat Change2:	New
1Data2:	4,726,326
2Data2:	8.53% (New)
3Data2:	11,084,890
4Data2:	19.88% (New)
Leader3:	Yuriko Koike
Party3:	Kibō no Tō
Last Election3:	Did not exist
Seats3:	50
Seat Change3:	New
1Data3:	11,437,602
2Data3:	20.64% (New)
3Data3:	9,677,524
4Data3:	17.36% (New)
Leader4:	Natsuo Yamaguchi
Party4:	Komeito
Last Election4:	35 seats
Seats4:	29
Seat Change4:	6
1Data4:	832,453
2Data4:	1.50% (0.50pp)
3Data4:	6,977,712
4Data4:	12.51% (1.20pp)
Leader5:	Kazuo Shii
Party5:	Japanese Communist Party
Last Election5:	21 seats
Seats5:	12
Seat Change5:	9
1Data5:	4,998,932
2Data5:	9.02% (4.28pp)
3Data5:	4,404,081
4Data5:	7.90% (3.47pp)
Leader6:	Ichirō Matsui
Party6:	Nippon Ishin no Kai
Last Election6:	Did not exist
Seats6:	11
Seat Change6:	New
1Data6:	1,765,053
2Data6:	3.18% (New)
3Data6:	3,387,097
4Data6:	6.07% (New)
Prime Minister
Before Party:	Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
After Party:	Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

General elections were held in Japan on 22 October 2017.^[1] Voting took place in all Representatives constituencies of Japan – 289 single-member districts and eleven proportional blocks – in order to appoint all 465 members (down from 475) of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the then 707-member bicameral National Diet of Japan. Incumbent Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's governing coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Komeito party retained their seats in signs of what was perceived as weak opposition. The PM won his fourth term in office and held on to the two-thirds supermajority in order to implement policies on revising the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution.^[2]

The snap elections were called in the midst of the North Korea missile threat and with the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, in disarray. Just hours before Abe's announcement of the snap election on 25 September, Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike launched a new conservative reformist party Kibō no Tō, the Party of Hope, which was seen as a viable alternative to the ruling coalition. It soon led to the dissolution of the Democratic Party and its party members defecting to the Kibō no Tō.^[3] However, the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, whose members Koike refused to nominate, formed the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP) led by Yukio Edano, splitting the opposition in half.^[4] The elections turned into a three-way contest as the CDP joined with the Japanese Communist Party and Social Democratic Party on a common platform opposing the constitutional revision. While Kibō no Tō fell short of expectation, the CDP surged in the polls in the last days before the elections and beat Kibō no Tō to emerge as the largest opposition party.^[5]

Despite being disrupted by Typhoon Lan, the elections saw a slight increase in turnout rate of 53.68 percent but still was the second lowest in postwar Japan. The lowest ever turnout was recorded in 2014.^[6] They were also the first elections after the voting age was lowered from 20 to 18. Abe also became the first Prime Minister to win three consecutive general elections since 1953 and the first LDP leader to do so. He became the longest-serving Prime Minister in the history of the country in August 2020, but resigned shortly after achieving this due to health issues.^[7]

Background

The House of Representatives has a fixed term of four years. Under the postwar constitution drafted in 1947, the interpretation of Article 7 states that the cabinet may instruct the Emperor to dissolve the House of Representatives before the end of term at will. Elections must be held within 40 days after dissolution.^[8] In June 2015, the Public Office Election Law was amended to lower the voting age from 20 to 18 years of age.^[9]

As of June 2015, the largest opposition party Democratic Party of Japan was reportedly preparing a roster of up to 250 candidates so as to be prepared in the event that the next general election was to be held alongside the House of Councillors election in the summer of 2016, before it merged with the Japan Innovation Party to form the Democratic Party in March 2016.^[10] The Democratic Party suffered a considerable defeat at the hands of the ruling coalition in the election, in which the Abe government took almost two-thirds of the seats.

In January 2017, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike established a new local party, Tomin First, to challenge the establishment Liberal Democratic Party in the Tokyo metropolitan election to be held in July. Tomin First won a resounding victory in the election, which came in the wake of the Moritomo Gakuen and Kake Gakuen scandals calling into question the propriety of the Abe government's decision making.^{[11] [12]} After the election, Defense Minister Tomomi Inada resigned in connection with another scandal involving the Japan Self-Defense Forces concealing evidence of a battle in South Sudan. Meanwhile, the main national opposition Democratic Party was severely hurt by the resignation of its leader Renho in July, as well as several high-profile defections.^[13]

The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe began publicly discussing the possibility of an election in mid-September 2017, as the North Korea crisis was ongoing. Continuing the momentum of her Tokyo election victory, Koike announced the formation of a new national political party, Kibō no Tō (Party of Hope), on 25 September. Abe called the general election just hours later on the same day. Soon after the Party of Hope was established, Democratic Party leader Seiji Maehara sought to merge with Kibō no Tō. Maehara's decision was strongly criticised by the liberal wing of the party, whose candidacies were rejected by Koike. The liberal wing surrounding the deputy president Yukio Edano announced the formation of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan on 2 October 2017.^[14] Opposition politicians claim Abe called the election partly to evade further questioning in parliament over his alleged misuse of power in securing approval for a veterinary college campus in Imabari.^[15]

One wedge issue between the two major coalitions is the scheduled consumption tax hike in October 2019. The LDP coalition advocates keeping the tax hike and using the funds for child care and education, while the Kibo coalition advocates freezing the tax hike.^[16] Nonetheless, Koike stated on 8 October that she was open to the option of a grand coalition with the LDP.^[17]

The LDP fielded 332 candidates, while Komeito fielded 53, Kibō no Tō fielded 235, and Nippon Ishin fielded 52. The Constitutional Democratic Party, Japanese Communist Party and Social Democratic Party joined forces to support a total number of 342 candidates on the common platform of opposing the revision the pacifist Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan and the new national security legislation.^{[18] [19]}

Several U.S.-Japan policy experts, including James Zumwalt and Michael Green, opined in October that the election was unlikely to have a major impact on policy as the LDP was expected to retain control; however, there was anxiety about the prospect of a leadership vacuum if Abe was eventually forced to resign as head of the LDP.^[20]

Political parties and candidates

See also: List of political parties in Japan.

Numbers of candidates by party

width=80px colspan=2	Party	width=50px	Before election	width=50px	Const.	width=50px	PR	width=50px	Total
		290	277	313	332
		57	198	234	235
		34	9	44	53
		21	206	65	243
		15	63	77	78
		14	47	52	52
		2	19	21	21
		0	0	2	2
	Others	0	44	47	91
	Ind.	39	73	–	73
Total	472	936	855	1,180

Parties		Leader	Ideology	Seats		Status
				Last election	Before election
	Liberal Democratic Party	Shinzo Abe	Conservatism
	Democratic Party	Seiji Maehara	Liberalism			rowspan="3"
	Kibō no Tō	Yuriko Koike	Conservatism	Did not exist
	Komeito	Natsuo Yamaguchi
	Japanese Communist Party	Kazuo Shii	Communism			rowspan="5"
	Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan	Yukio Edano	Liberalism	Did not exist
	Nippon Ishin no Kai	Ichirō Matsui	Conservatism	Did not exist
	Social Democratic Party	Tadatomo Yoshida	Social democracy

Ruling coalition

• The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), the conservative party led by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe who has been in power since the 2012 House of Representative election. The LDP currently enjoys the two-thirds majority with its coalition partner Komeito which allows the government to push forward the revision of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution.
• Komeito, a nominally Buddhist party led by Natsuo Yamaguchi, is the junior coalition partner of the incumbent government. Holding 35 seats in the House of Representatives, the party is considered as social conservative and closely associated with the Soka Gakkai religious movement.

Koike's coalition

• Kibō no Tō, also known as the Party of Hope, is the brand new conservative reformist party launched by Yuriko Koike, former LDP minister and incumbent Governor of Tokyo, on 25 September 2017 ahead of the general election. The new party attracted former members of the LDP as well as the conservative wing of the Democratic Party, the largest opposition party at the time, led by Seiji Maehara to join with the aims of overthrowing the Abe government.^[21] Three members of the Ichirō Ozawa's Liberal Party also decided run under Koike's banner. Despite being tipped as the first Japan's woman Prime Minister, Koike has expressed no intention to run in the general election and stated that her party would not name a prime ministerial candidate during the election.^[22] The party has promised to freeze the planned consumption tax increase and promote debate on the constitutional revision.^[23]
• Nippon Ishin no Kai, previously known as Initiatives from Osaka, is a Kansai-based party led by Governor of Osaka Ichirō Matsui. It split from the Japan Innovation Party in 2015. Having similar policies with Kibō no Tō, the party has agreed to cooperate with Koike in the coming election.^[24]

Pacifist coalition

• The Japanese Communist Party (JCP), the left-wing party led by Kazuo Shii, saw its recent resurgence in the 2014 House of Representative election due to its firm pacifist stance against the revision of Article 9 of the Constitution. The party currently is the second largest opposition party, holding 21 seats in the House of Representatives. The party forms an alliance with two other left-leaning parties, the Constitutional Democrats and the Social Democrats, and plans to field 243 candidates.
• The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), a brand new centre-left social liberal party formed by Yukio Edano on 2 October 2017 by the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, the then largest opposition party, after Kibō no Tō refused to nominate the liberal candidates of the Democratic Party when the party leader Seiji Maehara decided to join Kibō no Tō with the party.^[25] The party calls for Japan to phase out nuclear power, opposes the constitutional revision and the new national security legislation with two other left-leaning opposition parties. The party plans to field 78 candidates in the coming election.
• The Social Democratic Party (SDP) is the centre-left social democratic party led by Tadatomo Yoshida, which currently holds 2 seats in the House of Representatives. It opposes the revision of the pacifist Article 9 of the Constitution, and forms an alliance with two other left-leaning to stop the constitutional revisionists from winning a two-thirds majority.^[26]

Other parties

• The Party for Japanese Kokoro (PJK), formerly called the Party for Future Generations, currently holds no seat in the House of Representatives after its two members left to rejoin the Liberal Democratic Party in 2015. It is led by Masashi Nakano after its former leader Kyoko Nakayama left to join Kibō no Tō in late September and provides confidence and supply to the Abe cabinet. The party was formed by the right-wing nationalist wing led by Shintarō Ishihara who split from the Japan Restoration Party in 2014.

Gender representation

Fewer than 20% of the 1,180 candidates that ran in the election were women. 9% of current elected figures are women, Japan ranks 165th out of 193 countries on this aspect.^[27]

Opinion polls

Voting intention (PR blocks)

Date	Polling Firm/Source	LDP	DP	Komei	JCP	PJK	SDP	LP	Ishin	Kibō	CDP	Oth.	Und.	No Answer	Lead
17–19 Oct	Yomiuri Shimbun		33		8	6				5	13	17	2	<		--Und.&No answer-->16	16
17–18 Oct	Asahi Shimbun		34		7	5	1	1		4	11	13	1	<		--Und.&No answer-->23	21
14–15 Oct	FNN & Sankei Shimbun		32.9		8.5	5.4	0.9	1.0		4.8	15.0	14.6	4.8	<		--Und.&No answer-->12.1	17.9
6–9 Oct	Jiji Press		30.7		5.9	4.5		1.2		3.1	11.8	4.4		33.2		18.9
7–8 Oct	Yomiuri Shimbun		32		5	4	0	1		3	13	7	1	27	6	19
3–4 Oct	Asahi Shimbun		35		7	6	0	1	1	4	12	7	0	<		--Und.+Prefer not to answer-->27	23
2 Oct	Liberal wing of the Democratic Party splits to form the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan
30 Sep–1 Oct	Kyodo News		24.1		4.9	4.9	0.4	0.1	0.3	2.4	14.8		0	42.8		9.3
30 Sep–1 Oct	ANN		29		6	6		1	1	2	14		0	<		--Und.+Prefer not to answer-->39	15
29 Sep–1 Oct	Seijiyama		22.7		3.4	6.3	(Oth.)	2.1	(Oth.)	3.2	11.3		0.9	32.4	3.6	11.4
28–29 Sep	Yomiuri Shimbun		34		6	5	0	1	1	2	19		0	25	7	15
28 Sep	The Democratic Party dissolves and announces its candidacies under Kibō no Tō banner
26–27 Sep	Asahi Shimbun		32	8	6	5	0	2	1	3	13		1	<		--Und.+Prefer not to answer-->29	19
26–27 Sep	Mainichi Shimbun		29	8	5	5	0	0	1	3	18		<			--Others+Und.+No answer-->16	11
25 Sep	Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announces his intention to seek a general election to be held on 22 October 2017
25 Sep	Governor of Tokyo Yuriko Koike launches the party Kibō no Tō
23–24 Sep	Kyodo News		27.0	8.0	4.6	3.5	0	0.3	0.1	2.2	6.2			42.2		19
22–24 Sep	The Nikkei & TV Tokyo		44	8	3	5	0	1	1	3	8		5	<		--Und.+No answer-->20	24

Voting intention (districts)

Date	Polling Firm/Source	LDP	DP	Komei	JCP	PJK	SDP	LP	Ishin	Kibō	CDP	Oth.	Ind.	Und. + No Answer	Lead
17–18 Oct	Asahi Shimbun		33		3	4		1		2	9	7	0	2	39	24
3–4 Oct	Asahi Shimbun		31		4	4	0	0	1	2	10	4	0	0	44	21
26–27 Sep	Asahi Shimbun		31	9	3	4	0	1	0	2	6		1	1	42	22
23–24 Sep	Kyodo News		28.1	6.4	3.8	-	-	-	-	-	6.6		-	-	-	21.5

Party approval

Date	Polling Firm/Source	LDP	DP	Komei	JCP	PJK	SDP	LP	Ishin	Kibō	CDP	Oth.	No party	Und. + No Answer	Lead
17–19 Oct	The Nikkei		41								11	13		11		28
17–18 Oct	Asahi Shimbun		32	1	4	3	0	1	0	2	6	7	1	27	16	5
14–15 Oct	FNN		34.5	0.7	5.4	3.6	0.2	0.5	0.0	3.3	9.5	11.6	1.5	27.9	1.3	6.6
14–15 Oct	JNN	32.8	1.2	3.8	3.2	0.1	0.5	0.1	1.8	5.2	7.3	0.8		38.1	5.3	5.3
13–15 Oct	NHK	32.8	1.0	4.3	3.4	0.1	0.6	0.2	1.7	5.4	6.6			34.0		1.2
10–11 Oct	The Nikkei		39		5	5	0	1		3	13	11		11		28
7–9 Oct	NHK	31.2	1.6	3.8	2.7	0.0	0.5	0.0	1.3	4.8	4.4	0.4		39.1	10.0	7.9
6–9 Oct	Jiji Press	23.9	1.6	3.6	2.5	0.1	0.2	0.0	1.4	2.6	2.7			57.2		33.3
7–8 Oct	Yomiuri Shimbun	33	1	3	3		0	0	1	8	4	0		38	8	5
3–4 Oct	Asahi Shimbun		30	2	5	2	0	0	0	1	5	3	1		30	21	Tied
30 Sep – 1 Oct	ANN		39.6	7.1	4.6	5.8		1.9	0.6	2.8	9.6		0.0	<		--No Party & Und.-->28.0	11.6
29 Sep – 1 Oct	NHK	30.8	3.9	3.8	3.3		0.6	0.3	1.0	5.4			<	--No Party-->40.4		9.6
28–29 Sep	Yomiuri Shimbun	32	4	4	3		0	0	1	9		0	<	--No Party-->40	7	8
26–27 Sep	Asahi Shimbun	31	6	4	3	0	1	0	1	3		1	<	--No Party-->32	18	1
26–27 Sep	Mainichi Shimbun	28	5	4	4	0	0	1	2	13		1	<	--No Party-->39		11
22–24 Sep	The Nikkei & TV Tokyo		44	7	3	5	0	1	0	2			0	32	6	12
16–17 Sep	ANN		46.2	11.3	3.5	5.7	0.0	0.8	0.3	1.8			1.4	<		--No Party & Und.-->29.0	17.2
8–11 Sep	Jiji Press	23.7	4.3	4.9	1.3	0.0	0.1	0.0	1.0				<	--No Party-->62.9		39.2
8–10 Sep	NHK	37.7	6.7	3.1	2.6	0.0	0.5	0.3	1.1			0.2	<	--No Party-->40.8	7.1	3.1
8–10 Sep	Yomiuri Shimbun	40	5	3	3		0	0	1			0	<	--No Party-->45	2	5
25-27 Aug	The Nikkei & TV Tokyo		41	7	3	4	0	1	0	2			1	36	5	5
19-20 Aug	FNN	33.0	6.9	3.1	3.9	0.2	0.8	1.0	2.9			3.2	44.6	0.4	11.6
5-6 Aug	Asahi Shimbun	33	6	3	3	0	0	0	1			1	46	7	13
5-6 Aug	ANN		38.1	10.8	3.9	5.6	0.1	1.5	0.8	1.4			0.7	37.1		1.0
4-6 Aug	NHK	34.8	5.7	3.7	2.8	0.2	0.9	0.3	0.5			0.5	45.7	4.8	10.9
3-6 Aug	Jiji Press	25.7	3.2	2.5	2.3	0.0	0.8	0.2	0.8				62.2		36.5
3-4 Aug	The Nikkei & TV Tokyo		37	8	5	5	0	1	0	2			0	36	6	1
3-4 Aug	Yomiuri Shimbun	36	6	3	3		1	0	1			0	<	--No Party-->45	4	9
3-4 Aug	Mainichi Shimbun	26	7	5	5	0	1	0	3			1	47		21
3-4 Aug	Kyodo News		39.0	7.3	5.9	5.1	0.2	0.4	0.3	2.6				37.9		1.1
22-23 Jul	Mainichi Shimbun	25	5	3	5	0	1	1	2			2	53		28
22-23 Jul	FNN	29.1	7.0	5.3	4.6	0.2	1.3	0.8	3.2			2.0	45.7	0.8	16.6
7-10 Jul	Jiji Press	21.1	3.8	3.2	2.1	0.0	0.3	0.0	1.1				65.3		44.2
8-9 Jul	Asahi Shimbun	30	5	4	4	0	1	0	1			1	47	7	17
7-9 Jul	NTV	35.6	9.2	3.7	5.6	0.0	1.5	0.4	1.1			0.1	38.1	4.6	2.5
7-9 Jul	Yomiuri Shimbun	31	6	4	4	0	0	0	1			2	47	4	16
7-9 Jul	NHK	30.7	5.8	4.1	3.3	0.2	0.3	0.5	1.2			0.3	47.0	5.8	16.3
17-18 Jun	Mainichi Shimbun	27	8	3	4	0	1	1	2			1	47		20
17-18 Jun	FNN	36.0	8.3	4.1	5.6	0.2	0.8	1.3	3.5			1.7	38.1	0.4	2.1
17-18 Jun	Yomiuri Shimbun		41	7	3	3	0	1	0	1			0	40	4	1
17-18 Jun	Asahi Shimbun	34	8	4	4	0	1	0	1			0	41	7	7
16-18 Jun	NTV		38.5	11.0	5.1	4.1	0.0	1.4	0.1	1.1			0.3	33.4	5.0	5.1
9-11 Jun	NHK	36.4	7.9	4.2	2.7	0.0	0.9	0.4	1.2			0.3	40.8	5.1	4.4
13–14 May	FNN		41.6	8.0	2.9	4.3	0.6	0.8	0.8	2.9			2.1	35.6	0.4	6.0
12–14 May	Yomiuri Shimbun		43	6	2	2		0	0	1			1	39	5	4
12–14 May	NHK	37.5	7.3	3.8	2.7	0.1	1.0	0.3	1.0			0.1	38.4	7.5	0.9
14-16 Apr	Yomiuri Shimbun		44	6	3	3		0	0	2			0	38	4	6
7-9 Apr	NHK	38.1	6.7	3.8	3.2	0.1	0.6	0.5	1.1			0.2	38.7	7.0	0.6
18-19 Mar	Yomiuri Shimbun	40	7	2	3		1	0	2			0	43	2	3
10-12 Mar	NHK	36.9	7.6	4.1	2.8	0.0	1.1	0.1	1.6			0.4		38.9	6.6	2.0
17-19 Feb	Yomiuri Shimbun		43	6	4	3	0	0	0	1			0	40	2	3
11-12 Feb	NHK	38.2	6.4	2.8	4.4		0.7	0.4				0.3		40.1	5.2	1.9
27-29 Jan	Yomiuri Shimbun	40	7	3	4	0	0	0	1			0	42	2	2
7-9 Jan	NHK		38.3	8.7	3.5	3.2		0.9	0.0				0.3		38.3	5.3	Tied
2017
8-10 Oct	NHK	37.1	9.9	3.9	3.9	0.0	1.1	0.1	1.1			0.2		37.8	4.9	0.7
7-9 Oct	Yomiuri Shimbun		40	7	3	3	0	1	0	2			1	39	4	1
9-11 Sep	Yomiuri Shimbun		46.0	8.0	3.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	3.0			1.0	31.0	2.0	15.0
9-11 Sep	NHK		40.2	8.3	4.3	2.5	0.2	0.4	0.0	1.9			0.2	36.0	6.1	4.2
4-6 Mar	Yomiuri Shimbun	37.0	8.0	3.0	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0			0.0		43.0	2.0	6.0
12-14 Feb	Yomiuri Shimbun		42.0	7.0	3.0	3.0		0.0		1.0			0.0	40.0	3.0	2.0
5-7 Feb	NHK		37.6	9.6	3.6	3.9	0.2	0.2	0.0	1.6			0.1	35.1	7.4	2.5
30-31 Jan	Yomiuri Shimbun		40.0	7.0	4.0	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0			0.0	39.0	3.0	1.0
9-11 Jan	NHK		37.5	8.1	4.3	4.2	0.0	0.6	0.3	1.9			0.2	33.1	9.4	4.4
8-10 Jan	Yomiuri Shimbun		40.0	8.0	4.0	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0			0.0	37.0	4.0	3.0
2016
17-18 Dec	Yomiuri Shimbun	37.0	9.0	5.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	2.0			0.0		39.0	0.0	2.0
11-13 Dec	NHK		37.5	8.5	4.7	5.0	0.0	0.5	0.1	1.8			0.2	34.3	7.0	3.2
4-6 Dec	Yomiuri Shimbun	36.0	7.0	3.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0	4.0			0.0		43.0	2.0	7.0
6-8 Nov	Yomiuri Shimbun		40.0	7.0	3.0	5.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.0			0.0	39.0	2.0	1.0
6-8 Nov	NHK		37.1	8.4	3.4	4.1	0.0	0.5	0.3	1.1			0.1	36.3	8.2	0.8
10-12 Oct	NHK	35.6	8.6	3.3	4.2	0.2	0.9	0.3				0.1		35.7	10.3	0.1
7-8 Oct	Yomiuri Shimbun		39.0	10.0	3.0	3.0		1.0	0.0				0.0		39.0	1.0	Tied
19-20 Sep	Yomiuri Shimbun	33.0	11.0	3.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	1.0				0.0		42.0	3.0	9.0
11–13 Sep	NHK	34.7	9.8	3.7	4.0	0.1	0.6	0.2				0.6		36.2	9.0	1.5
15-16 Aug	Yomiuri Shimbun	37.0	10.0	3.0	4.0		1.0	0.0				0.0		39.0	3.0	2.0
7–9 Aug	NHK	34.3	10.9	3.0	4.2	0.2	0.7	0.0				0.1		34.5	9.6	0.2
24-26 Jul	Yomiuri Shimbun	36.0	8.0	3.0	5.0		0.0	0.0				0.0		41.0	3.0	5.0
18–19 Jul	Asahi Shimbun	31.0	9.0	4.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				0.0		41.0	7.0	10.0
11–12 Jul	Asahi Shimbun	32.0	8.0	4.0	4.0	1.0	0.0	0.0				0.0		38.0	10.0	6.0
10–12 Jul	NHK	34.7	7.7	4.2	3.3	0.1	0.7	0.4				0.1		36.8	9.5	2.1
3-5 Jul	Yomiuri Shimbun	35.0	9.0	4.0	3.0	0.0	1.0					0.0		44.0	1.0	9.0
20–21 Jun	Asahi Shimbun	36.0	7.0	3.0	3.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				0.0		41.0	7.0	5.0
5-7 Jun	Yomiuri Shimbun	38.0	7.0	3.0	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0				0.0		42.0	2.0	4.0
5–7 Jun	NHK		35.8	9.4	3.6	4.4	0.0	0.9	0.0				0.2	33.9	9.3	1.9
16–17 May	Asahi Shimbun		39.0	7.0	3.0	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0				1.0	33.0	10.0	6.0
8–10 May	Yomiuri Shimbun		43.0	10.0	4.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				0.0	35.0	2.0	8.0
8–10 May	NHK		37.5	7.8	5.3	3.5	0.0	0.8	0.2				0.0	34.7	8.4	2.8
18–19 Apr	Asahi Shimbun		36.0	7.0	4.0	5.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				0.0	34.0	10.0	2.0
10–12 Apr	NHK		37.8	9.2	4.1	4.8	0.2	0.9	0.1				0.3	29.2	9.9	8.6
3-5 Apr	Yomiuri Shimbun		41.0	7.0	4.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				0.0	40.0	1.0	1.0
14–15 Mar	Asahi Shimbun		38.0	8.0	3.0	3.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				1.0	37.0	8.0	1.0
6–8 Mar	NHK		36.7	10.9	3.8	4.6	0.0	1.6	0.3				0.3	31.8	8.1	4.9
28 Jan-28 Feb	Yomiuri Shimbun		43.0	9.0	4.0	4.0	1.0	1.0	1.0				0.0	30.0	1.0	13.0
14–15 Feb	Asahi Shimbun		40.0	7.0	4.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				1.0	35.0	7.0	5.0
6–8 Feb	NHK		41.2	10.3	4.9	4.2	0.1	0.7	0.0				0.1	29.7	6.5	11.5
6-7 Feb	Yomiuri Shimbun		42.0	11.0	3.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				0.0	35.0	1.0	8.0
17–18 Jan	Asahi Shimbun	33.0	9.0	4.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				1.0		38.0	7.0	5.0
10–12 Jan	NHK		39.4	9.2	4.0	3.7	0.4	0.8	0.1				0.2	31.9	7.7	7.5
9-11 Jan	Yomiuri Shimbun		41.0	8.0	3.0	5.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				0.0	38.0	1.0	3.0
2015
24-25 Dec	Yomiuri Shimbun		36.0	11.0	5.0	6.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				1.0	32.0	3.0	4.0
15–16 Dec	Asahi Shimbun		35.0	7.0	4.0	4.0	0.0	1.0	0.0				1.0	33.0	12.0	2.0
14 Dec 2014	General Election		33.1	18.3	13.7	11.4	2.7	2.5	1.9				0.7			14.9

Preferred prime minister

Date	Polling Firm/Source	Abe	Koike	Oth.	Und. + No Answer	Lead
14–15 Oct	FNN & Sankei Shimbun		54.0	26.5	19.5		27.5
30 Sep – 1 Oct	Kyodo News		45.9	33.0		21.1	12.9

Preferred outcome

Date	Polling Firm/Source	Government gains seats	LDP re-election	Balanced	Opposition gains seats	Change in government	Und. + No Answer
		bgcolor=green		bgcolor=green		bgcolor=yellow		bgcolor=red		bgcolor=red		bgcolor=grey
17–18 Oct	Asahi Shimbun		37			36	27
14–15 Oct	FNN & Sankei Shimbun		50.5			40.6	8.9
14–15 Oct	JNN	35			47		18
13–15 Oct	NHK	22			33		39
7–9 Oct	NHK	21			32		41
7–8 Oct	Yomiuri Shimbun		44			42	14
3–4 Oct	Asahi Shimbun		43			33	24
30 Sep – 1 Oct	ANN		44			38	18
30 Sep – 1 Oct	Kyodo News		27.4	48.6		16.9
29 Sep – 1 Oct	NHK	20			33		42
26–27 Sep	Mainichi Shimbun	34			49

Cabinet approval / disapproval ratings

Date	Polling Firm/Source	PM	Approval	Disapproval	Und. + No Answer
			bgcolor=green		bgcolor=red		bgcolor=grey
17–19 Oct	The Nikkei	Shinzō Abe	46	44	22
17–18 Oct	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	38	40	22
15–16 Oct	go2senkyo.com	Shinzō Abe	50	50	0
14–15 Oct	FNN	Shinzō Abe	42.5	46.3	11.2
14–15 Oct	JNN	Shinzō Abe	48.7	49.2	2.0
13–15 Oct	NHK	Shinzō Abe	39	42
10–11 Oct	The Nikkei	Shinzō Abe	37	48
10–11 Oct	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	43	41
7–9 Oct	NHK	Shinzō Abe	37	43
6–9 Oct	Jiji Press	Shinzō Abe	37.1	41.8
8 Oct	go2senkyo.com	Shinzō Abe	45	54	1
7-8 Oct	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	41	46	13
3-4 Oct	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	40	38	22
1 Oct	go2senkyo.com	Shinzō Abe	47	52	1
30 Sep - 1 Oct	ANN	Shinzō Abe	36.9	46.3	16.8
30 Sep - 1 Oct	Kyodo News	Shinzō Abe	40.6	46.2
29 Sep - 1 Oct	Seijiyama	Shinzō Abe	35.7	47.7	16.6
29 Sep - 1 Oct	NHK	Shinzō Abe	37	44
28-29 Sep	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	43	46	11
26-27 Sep	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	36	39	25
26-27 Sep	Mainichi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	36	42	19
23-24 Sep	Kyodo News	Shinzō Abe	45.0	41.3
22-24 Sep	Nikkei & TV Tokyo	Shinzō Abe	50	42	8
16-17 Sep	ANN	Shinzō Abe	41.3	39.6	19.1
16-17 Sep	FNN	Shinzō Abe	50.3	40.0
8-11 Sep	Jiji News	Shinzō Abe	41.8	36.7
9-10 Sep	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	38	38
8-10 Sep	NHK	Shinzō Abe	44	36
8-10 Sep	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	50	39
8-10 Sep	NTV	Shinzō Abe	42.1	41.0	17.0
2-3 Sep	JNN	Shinzō Abe	48.1	50.5	1.5
2-3 Sep	Mainichi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	39	36	22
2-3 Sep	Kyodo News	Shinzō Abe	44.5	46.1
25-27 Aug	The Nikkei & TV Tokyo	Shinzō Abe	46	46
19-20 Aug	FNN	Shinzō Abe	43.8	49.0	7.2
5-6 Aug	ANN	Shinzō Abe	37.6	47.2	15.2
5-6 Aug	JNN	Shinzō Abe	39.7	59.0	1.3
5-6 Aug	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	35	45
4-6 Aug	NHK	Shinzō Abe	39	43
4-6 Aug	NTV	Shinzō Abe	35.6	47.3	17.1
3-6 Aug	Jiji Press	Shinzō Abe	36.6	44.1
3-4 Aug	Kyodo News	Shinzō Abe	44.4	43.2
3-4 Aug	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	42	48
3-4 Aug	The Nikkei & TV Tokyo	Shinzō Abe	42	49
3-4 Aug	Mainichi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	35	47	17
22-23 Jul	FNN	Shinzō Abe	34.7	56.1	9.2
22-23 Jul	The Nikkei & TV Tokyo	Shinzō Abe	39	52
22-23 Jul	Mainichi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	26	56	17
15-16 Jul	ANN	Shinzō Abe	29.2	54.5	16.3
15-16 Jul	Kyodo News	Shinzō Abe	35.8	53.1
7-10 Jul	Jiji Press	Shinzō Abe	29.9	48.6
8-9 Jul	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	33	47	20
7-9 Jul	NTV	Shinzō Abe	31.9	49.2	18.9
7-9 Jul	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	36	52	11
7-9 Jul	NHK	Shinzō Abe	35	48	17
1-2 Jul	JNN	Shinzō Abe	43.3	55.5	1.3
17-18 Jun	Mainichi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	36	44	17
17-18 Jun	ANN	Shinzō Abe	37.9	41.6	20.5
17-18 Jun	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	41	37	20
17-18 Jun	Kyodo News	Shinzō Abe	44.9	43.1
17-18 Jun	FNN	Shinzō Abe	47.6	42.9	9.5
17-18 Jun	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	49	41	10
16-18 Jun	The Nikkei	Shinzō Abe	49	42
16-18 Jun	NTV	Shinzō Abe	39.8	41.8	18.4
9-11 Jun	NHK	Shinzō Abe	48	36	16
3-4 Jun	JNN	Shinzō Abe	54.4	44.1	1.5
25–28 May	The Nikkei	Shinzō Abe	56	36
20–21 May	Mainichi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	46	35	16
20–21 May	ANN	Shinzō Abe	46.4	32.4	21.2
19–21 May	NTV	Shinzō Abe	46.1	36.4	17.6
13–14 May	FNN	Shinzō Abe	56.1	34.7	9.2
12–14 May	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	61	28	11
12–14 May	NHK	Shinzō Abe	51	30	19
29-30 Apr	JNN	Shinzō Abe	63.3	34.8	1.9
27-30 Apr	The Nikkei	Shinzō Abe	60	32
22-23 Apr	Mainichi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	51	30	17
22-23 Apr	ANN	Shinzō Abe	50.4	33.0	16.6
15-16 Apr	FNN	Shinzō Abe	59.3	30.4	10.3
14-16 Apr	NTV	Shinzō Abe	50.4	30.8	18.8
14-16 Apr	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	60	29	11
7-9 Apr	NHK	Shinzō Abe	53	27	20
1-2 Apr	JNN	Shinzō Abe	57.0	40.6	2.4
25-26 Mar	ANN	Shinzō Abe	50.5	31.2	18.3
24-26 Mar	The Nikkei	Shinzō Abe	62	30
18-19 Mar	FNN	Shinzō Abe	57.4	30.9	11.7
18-19 Mar	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	56	33	12
17-19 Mar	NTV	Shinzō Abe	47.6	32.9	19.5
10-12 Mar	NHK	Shinzō Abe	51	31	18
4-5 Mar	JNN	Shinzō Abe	61.0	37.3	1.7
25-26 Feb	ANN	Shinzō Abe	54.5	27.9	17.6
24-26 Feb	The Nikkei	Shinzō Abe	60	30
18-19 Feb	FNN	Shinzō Abe	58.8	30.1	11.1
17-19 Feb	NTV	Shinzō Abe	54.9	26.0	19.1
17-19 Feb	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	66	24	9
11-12 Feb	NHK	Shinzō Abe	58	23	19
4-5 Feb	JNN	Shinzō Abe	65.4	33.4	1.2
28-29 Jan	FNN	Shinzō Abe	60.7	30.7	8.6
28-29 Jan	ANN	Shinzō Abe	55.3	27.5	17.2
27-29 Jan	The Nikkei	Shinzō Abe	66	26
27-29 Jan	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	61	31	8
20-22 Jan	NTV	Shinzō Abe	57.2	28.9	13.9
14-15 Jan	JNN	Shinzō Abe	67.0	31.5	1.7
7-9 Jan	NHK	Shinzō Abe	55	29	16
2017
17-18 Dec	FNN	Shinzō Abe	55.6	30.9	13.5
12-13 Nov	FNN	Shinzō Abe	57.9	31.9	10.2
15-16 Oct	FNN	Shinzō Abe	57.6	35.5	6.9
17-18 Sep	FNN	Shinzō Abe	56.6	33.3	10.1
9-11 Sep	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	62	29	9
9-11 Sep	NHK	Shinzō Abe	57	26	17
6-7 Aug	FNN	Shinzō Abe	55.4	33.1	11.5
16-17 Jul	FNN	Shinzō Abe	49.8	39.1	11.1
18-19 Jun	FNN	Shinzō Abe	49.4	38.1	10.6
4-6 Mar	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	49	40	11
12-14 Feb	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	52	36	12
5-7 Feb	NHK	Shinzō Abe	50	34	16
30-31 Jan	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	56	34	9
9-11 Jan	NHK	Shinzō Abe	46	35	19
8-10 Jan	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	54	36	9
2016
17-18 Dec	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	49	39	12
11-13 Dec	NHK	Shinzō Abe	46	36	18
4-6 Dec	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	48	40	12
6-8 Nov	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	51	38	11
6-8 Nov	NHK	Shinzō Abe	47	39	14
10-12 Oct	NHK	Shinzō Abe	43	40	17
7-8 Oct	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	46	45	8
19-20 Sep	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	41	51	8
11–13 Sep	NHK	Shinzō Abe	43	39	18
15-16 Aug	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	45	45	10
7–9 Aug	NHK	Shinzō Abe	37	46	17
24-26 Jul	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	43	49	8
18–19 Jul	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	37	46	17
11–12 Jun	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	39	42	19
10–12 Jul	NHK	Shinzō Abe	41	43	16
3-5 Jul	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	49	40	10
20–21 Jun	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	39	37	24
5-7 Jun	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	53	36	10
5–7 Jun	NHK	Shinzō Abe	48	34	18
16–17 May	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	45	32	23
8–10 May	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	58	32	10
8–10 May	NHK	Shinzō Abe	51	32	17
18–19 Apr	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	44	35	21
10–12 Apr	NHK	Shinzō Abe	51	34	15
3-5 Apr	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	57	35	8
14–15 Mar	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	46	33	21
6–8 Mar	NHK	Shinzō Abe	46	37	17
28 Jan-28 Feb	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	56	36	8
14–15 Feb	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	50	31	19
6–8 Feb	NHK	Shinzō Abe	54	29	17
6-7 Feb	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	58	34	8
17–18 Jan	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	42	37	21
10–12 Jan	NHK	Shinzō Abe	50	32	18
9-11 Jan	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	53	38	9
2015
24-25 Dec	Yomiuri Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	49	41	10
15–16 Dec	Asahi Shimbun	Shinzō Abe	43	34	23
5–7 Dec	NHK	Shinzō Abe	47	38	15
2014

Results

See main article: Results of the 2017 Japanese general election.

By prefecture

Prefecture	Total seats	Seats won
		LDP	CDP	Kibō	Komeito	Ishin	JCP	SDP	Ind.
Aichi	15	8	2	3					2
Akita	3	3
Aomori	3	3
Chiba	13	12							1
Ehime	4	3		1
Fukui	2	2
Fukuoka	11	11
Fukushima	5	3							2
Gifu	5	5
Gunma	5	5
Hiroshima	7	6		1
Hokkaido	12	6	5		1
Hyōgo	12	10			2
Ibaraki	7	6							1
Ishikawa	3	3
Iwate	3	1		1					1
Kagawa	3	2		1
Kagoshima	4	3	1
Kanagawa	18	13	3	1					1
Kōchi	2	1							1
Kumamoto	4	4
Kyoto	6	4		1					1
Mie	4	2							2
Miyagi	6	5							1
Miyazaki	3	3
Nagano	5	2		2					1
Nagasaki	4	3		1
Nara	3	3
Niigata	6	2	1						3
Ōita	3	3
Okayama	5	5
Okinawa	4	1					1	1	1
Osaka	19	10	1		4	3			1
Saga	2			1					1
Saitama	15	13	1	1
Shiga	4	4
Shimane	2	2
Shizuoka	8	6		2
Tochigi	5	4							1
Tokushima	2	2
Tokyo	25	19	4	1	1
Tottori	2	2
Toyama	3	3
Wakayama	3	2		1
Yamagata	3	3
Yamaguchi	4	4
Yamanashi	2	1							1
Total	289	218	18	18	8	3	1	1	22

By PR block

PR block	Total seats	Seats won
		LDP	CDP	Kibō	Komeito	JCP	Ishin	SDP
Chūgoku	11	5	2	2	2
Hokkaido	8	3	3	1	1
Hokuriku–Shinetsu	11	5	2	2	1	1
Kinki	28	9	5	3	4	2	5
Kyushu	20	7	3	4	3	1	1	1
Northern Kanto	19	7	5	4	2	1
Shikoku	6	3	1	1	1
Southern Kanto	22	8	5	4	2	2	1
Tohoku	13	5	3	3	1	1
Tokai	21	8	4	5	2	1	1
Tokyo	17	6	4	3	2	2
Total	176	66	37	32	21	11	8	1

Notable defeats

Party		Name	Constituency	Year elected	Defeated by	Party		Details
		data-sort-value="Yamamoto, Yuji"	Yūji Yamamoto	Kochi-2nd	1990 (in Kochi-3rd)	data-sort-value="Hirota, Hajime"	Hajime Hirota			Agriculture Minister in the Third Abe Cabinet. He was returned to the Diet through the Shikoku PR block.^[28]
		data-sort-value="Nishikawa, Koya"	Koya Nishikawa	Tochigi-2nd (Kita-Kantō PR block)	1996	data-sort-value="Fukuda, Akio"	Akio Fukuda			Agriculture Minister in the Second Abe Cabinet who was defeated in the district in 2014 but managed to return through the PR block at that time. He didn't enter the block this time round and therefore was not returned to the Diet.^[29]
		data-sort-value="Nakagawa, Yuuko"	Yūko Nakagawa	Hokkaido-11th	2012	data-sort-value="Ishikawa, Kaori"	Kaori Ishikawa			MP since 2012 and widow of former Finance Minister, Shōichi Nakagawa.^[30]
		data-sort-value="Yamada, Miki"	Miki Yamada	Tokyo-1st	2012	data-sort-value="Kaieda, Banri"	Banri Kaieda			Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Third Abe Cabinet. Yamada famously defeated former DPJ leader Kaieda in the 2014 election.^[31] ^[32] Kaieda regained his seat in this election. Yamada was able to retain her Diet seat through the LDP list for the Tokyo PR block.^[33]
		data-sort-value="Ochi, Takao"	Takao Ochi	Tokyo-6th	2012	data-sort-value="Ochiai, Takayuki"	Takayuki Ochiai			Vice Minister of the Cabinet Office in the Second and Third Abe Cabinet. Ochi was able to hold on to his Diet seat through the LDP list for the Tokyo PR block.^[34]
		data-sort-value="Tsuchiya, Masatada"	Masatada Tsuchiya	Tokyo-18th	2012	data-sort-value="Kan, Naoto"	Naoto Kan			Former mayor of Musashino. Tsuchiya defeated former PM Kan in the 2014 election. Kan was able to return to the parliament through the Tokyo PR block and was the very last (475th) MP elected that night. He regained his seat in the election. Conversely, Tsuchiya wasn't returned to the Diet as he was not in the LDP list for the Tokyo PR block.^[35]
		data-sort-value="Ueda, Isamu"	Isamu Ueda	Kanagawa-6th	2000 (block) 2003 (district)	data-sort-value="Aoyagi, Youichirou"	Yōichirō Aoyagi			Deputy Secretary General of the Komeito party and Vice Finance Minister in the Second and Third Koizumi Cabinet^[36]
		data-sort-value="Wakasa, Masaru"	Masaru Wakasa	Tokyo-10th	2014 (block) 2016 (district)	data-sort-value="Suzuki, Hayato"	Hayato Suzuki			A founding member of Kibō no Tō and one of the closest allies of Yuriko Koike. He was in the Kibō list for the Tokyo PR block, but was not able to hold on to his Diet seat due to receiving inadequate votes.^[37] ^[38]
		data-sort-value="Mabuchi, Sumio"	Sumio Mabuchi	Nara-1st	2003	data-sort-value="Kobayashi, Shigeki"	Shigeki Kobayashi			Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in the Kan cabinet and a candidate for the 2012 DPJ leadership election. Mabuchi has the highest ratio of margin of defeat (97.27%) among all defeated candidates in the election.^[39]
	(formerly LDP)	data-sort-value="Asao, Keiichirou"	Keiichirō Asao	Kanagawa-4th	2009	data-sort-value="Waseda, Yuki"	Yuki Waseda			Former chairman of the defunct Your Party. He contested as an independent as he wasn't selected by the LDP in the snap election.^[40]
		data-sort-value="Toyota, Mayuko"	Mayuko Toyota	Saitama-4th	2012	data-sort-value="Hosaka, Yasushi"	Yasushi Hosaka			Toyota resigned from the LDP due to a high-profile bullying scandal in June 2017.^[41] At the time of the election, she was under investigation for assaulting her former aide. She contested as an independent as she wasn't selected by the LDP in the snap election.^[42]

Aftermath

+ Results of the Prime Minister election
width=40px rowspan="2" colspan="2"	Party	width=100px rowspan="2"	Candidate	width=50px rowspan="1" colspan="2"	Votes
width=25px	Rep	width=25px	Cou
			312	151
			60	9
			51	3
			16	48
			12	14
			11	11
			1	0
			1	0
			0	2
Invalid/blank vote			1	1
Did not vote			0	3
Total	465	242

Reactions and analysis

The success of the CDP in surpassing the Kibō no Tō in the number of seats and becoming the official opposition party was surprising. It presented a potential challenge for the ruling coalition to pass the constitutional amendment of Article 9, which was one of the main issues of the 2017 general election that was supported by Kibō no Tō leader Koike but opposed by the pacifist coalition.^[43] With a supermajority in both the upper and the lower house, the ruling coalition was expected to pass other legislation without much resistance.^[44] In a post-election conference, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe was optimistic about moving forward, stating that the victory was the first time the LDP have "won three consecutive victories" under the same party leader.^[45] The landslide victory achieved by the LDP campaign has been observed as not completely related to the popularity of Shinzo Abe, as the victory was also significantly influenced by the disconnect between the oppositions, notably the failure of Koike and the pacifist coalition to unite over many election issues.^[46]

Nevertheless, the CDP finishing second led to Kibō no Tō dissolving in 2018 (with Shigefumi Matsuzawa reviving the party in a smaller capacity) and merging into the Democratic Party for the People, which subsequently largely merged into a refounded CDP, with the exception of a splinter group led by Yuichiro Tamaki. Koike became an independent, lightly cooperating with the LDP and her own regional party, Tomin First no Kai.^[47]

Investiture vote

A special Diet session was convened on 1 November to elect the next prime minister.^[48] Abe was re-elected with 312 and 151 votes in the House of Representatives and House of Councillors respectively.^{[49] [50]} The new cabinet was formed later on the day.

See also

• Constitution of Japan
• Elections in Japan

Notes and References

1. Book: Pekkanen, Robert J. . Japan Decides 2017 . Reed . Steven R. . Scheiner . Ethan . Smith . Daniel M. . 2018 . en . 10.1007/978-3-319-76475-7.
2. News: Shinzo Abe gains big victory in Japan election. Financial Times. 22 October 2017.
3. Asano . Masahiko . Patterson . Dennis . 2022 . Risk, institutions, and policy in decisions to join a start-up party: evidence from the 2017 snap election in Japan . Japanese Journal of Political Science . en . 23 . 1 . 34–54 . 10.1017/S1468109921000402 . 1468-1099. 2346/92774 . free .
4. News: How Japanese PM Shinzo Abe won a sweeping electoral triumph. Financial Times. 22 October 2017.
5. News: 立憲民主党、野党第1党が確実（衆院選2017). 2017-10-22. Huffington Post.
6. News: Election turnout likely second-lowest in postwar period, estimate says. 2017-10-23. The Japan Times.
7. News: Japan Election Vindicates Shinzo Abe as His Party Wins Big. 22 November 2017. Rich. M.. The New York Times. November 27, 2017.
8. MIC/e-gov legal database: 公職選挙法, chapter 5 (election dates), article 31 (general elections)
9. News: Japan: Voting Age Lowered from 20 to 18. Sayuri. Umeda. Library of Congress.
10. News: 民主、衆参同日選も想定 年内に候補者170人擁立めざす. 8 June 2015. Nihon Keizai Shimbun. 6 June 2015.
11. News: Tokyo Voters' Rebuke Signals Doubt About Shinzo Abe's Future. Rich. Motoko. 2017-07-03. The New York Times. 2017-10-09. en-US. 0362-4331.
12. Web site: Backstory to Abe's Snap Election – the Secrets of Moritomo, Kake and the "Missing" Japan SDF Activity Logs. Repeta. Lawrence.

    ja:ローレンス・レペタ

    . 2017-10-15. The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. 2017-10-17.
13. News: Shinzo Abe of Japan Calls Early Election, as a Rival Party Forms. Rich. Motoko. 2017-09-25. The New York Times. 2017-10-09. en-US. 0362-4331.
14. News: Former DP heavyweight Yukio Edano seeks to fill void with new liberal-minded party. 2 October 2017. Japan Times.
15. News: Why the LDP keeps winning elections in Japan: pragmatism. The Economist. 12 October 2017.
16. News: 2017 Lower House Election / LDP, Kibo to lock horns over consumption tax rate hike. The Japan News. 2017-10-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20171008153117/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003990833. 2017-10-08. dead. en-US.
17. News: 2017 Lower House Election / Koike leaves open scenario of forming coalition with LDP. The Japan News. 2017-10-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20171008153133/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0003991391. 2017-10-08. dead. en-US.
18. News: 党派別立候補者数. 日本経済新聞.
19. News: VOTE 2017: Campaigning to kick off for 3-way Lower House election：The Asahi Shimbun. The Asahi Shimbun. 2017-10-09. en-us. 2017-10-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20171010005559/http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201710090037.html. dead.
20. News: Japan's 'Nothing'Election: The View From Washington Politics Tokyo Business Today. Tokyo Business Today. 2017-10-19. en-US.
21. Web site: Democratic Party effectively disbands, throwing support behind Koike's party for Lower House poll . Yoshida . Reiji . 28 September 2017 . . 28 September 2017.
22. News: VOTE 2017: Koike refuses to name candidate to replace Abe as prime minister：The Asahi Shimbun. The Asahi Shimbun. 2017-10-09. en-us. 2017-10-08. https://web.archive.org/web/20171008044059/http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201710070018.html. dead.
23. News: Tokyo Gov. Koike's upstart party Kibo no To vows to halt tax hike, debate war-renouncing Article 9. 6 October 2017. Japan Times.
24. News: Kibo no To and Osaka's Nippon Ishin in cautious collaboration with wide policy overlap. 6 October 2017. Japan Times.
25. News: VOTE 2017: Edano plans to form new party as liberal force in election. 2 October 2017. Asahi Shimbun. 2 October 2017. 3 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171003025958/http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201710020024.html. dead.
26. News: Japan's opposition races to assemble slates as tumult persists. SGA. 4 October 2017. 8 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171008082202/https://www.asiaventurepedia.com/japans-opposition-races-to-assemble-slates-as-tumult-persists/. 8 October 2017. dead.
27. Japan Ranks Low in Female Lawmakers. An Election Won't Change That., by MOTOKO RICHOCT. 21, 2017, https://nyti.ms/2gVN79s New York Times
28. News: 高知２区. 7 November 2017. NHK. ja.
29. News: 栃木２区. 7 November 2017. NHK. ja.
30. News: 北海道１１区. 7 November 2017. NHK. ja.
31. News: Kaieda quits as DPJ chief after humiliating ejection from Diet. 21 November 2017. The Japan Times. Mizuho. Aoki. Reiji. Yoshida.
32. News: 民主・海江田代表、辞任を表明 後継者争い混沌 党分裂の危機. 7 November 2017. Yūkan Fuji. December 15, 2014.
33. News: 東京１区. 7 November 2017. NHK. ja.
34. News: 東京6区. 9 November 2017. NHK. ja.
35. News: 東京１８区. 7 November 2017. NHK. ja.
36. News: 神奈川６区. 7 November 2017. NHK. ja.
37. News: 東京１０区. 7 November 2017. NHK. ja.
38. News: Sim. Walter. Koike fails miserably, even in her stronghold. 7 November 2017. The Straits Times. October 24, 2017.
39. News: 奈良１区. 7 November 2017. NHK. ja.
40. News: 埼玉４区. 7 November 2017. NHK. ja.
41. News: Female Japanese politician Mayuko Toyota resigns after attacking male aide. 9 November 2017. The Straits Times. June 23, 2017.
42. News: 埼玉４区. 7 November 2017. NHK. ja.
43. News: After win, Abe takes cautious tack on revising Constitution. 25 October 2017. Asahi Shimbun. October 24, 2017. 24 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171024124107/http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201710240031.html. dead.
44. News: Osborne. Samuel. Yamaguchi. Mari. What does Shinzo Abe's election win mean for Japan?. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/japan-election-result-shinzo-abe-victory-north-korea-ageing-population-threat-tackle-a8016151.html . 2022-05-01 . subscription . live. 25 October 2017. The Independent. October 24, 2017.
45. News: Shimada. Gaku. Kagaya. Kazuki. Overconfidence emerges as Abe's biggest risk after opposition sink. 25 October 2017. Nikkei Asian Review. October 24, 2017.
46. News: Japan's Abe Has Pulled Off a Landslide— But He's Not as Popular as You Might Think. 25 October 2017. Bloomberg. October 24, 2017.
47. Web site: DP, Kibo to merge into new party as early as May 7. Yomiuri Shimbun. Jiji Press. 25 April 2018. 26 April 2018. Jiji Press. https://web.archive.org/web/20180426144513/http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004395382. 26 April 2018. dead.
48. News: Diet to convene session Wednesday to re-elect Abe as PM. 1 November 2017. Japan Times. October 26, 2017.
49. http://www.shugiin.go.jp/internet/itdb_kaigiroku.nsf/html/kaigiroku/000119520171101001.htm 第195回国会 本会議 第1号（平成29年11月1日（水曜日）） (in Japanese)
50. http://www.sangiin.go.jp/japanese/joho1/kousei/vote/195/195-1101-v001.pdf 第195回国会 （2017年11月1日） 投票結果ー内閣総理大臣の指名 (in Japanese)