Speaker of the House of Representatives (Japan) explained

Post:Speaker of the House of Representatives
Native Name:衆議院議長
Flagsize:100px
Incumbent:Fukushiro Nukaga
Incumbentsince:20 October 2023
Department:House of Representatives
Style:Mr. Speaker (informal)
The Honourable (formal)
Residence:The Speaker’s Official Residence (not in use)
Appointer:The House
Termlength:Four years; renewable only if there is a dissolution
Constituting Instrument:Constitution of Japan
First:Nobuyuki Nakajima
Deputy:Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives
(衆議院副議長 Shūgiin-fukugichō)
Banri Kaieda
(since 10 November 2021)

The is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives of Japan, and together with the President of the House of Councillors, the Speaker is also the head of the legislative branch of Japan. The Speaker is elected by members of the House at the start of each session, and can serve for a maximum of four years.

The current Speaker of the House of Representatives is Fukushiro Nukaga, who took office on 20 October 2023.

Selection

The election of the Speaker takes place on the day of the new session, under the moderation of the Secretary-General of the House.[1] The Speaker is elected by an anonymous vote, and must have at least half of the votes in order to take office. If no one gets over half of the votes, the top two candidates will be voted again, and if they get the same number of votes, the Speaker is elected by a lottery. The Vice Speaker is elected separately, in the same way.[1]

Usually, the Speaker is a senior member of the ruling party, and the Vice Speaker is a senior member of the opposition party. The current Speaker, Hiroyuki Hosoda, is a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, while the Vice Speaker, Banri Kaieda, is a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

Powers and Duties

According to Chapter III Article 19 of the Diet Law, the Speaker "shall maintain order in the House, arrange its business, supervise its administration, and represent the House".[1]

The Speaker is also authorized to maintain order in the House chambers by exercising police power. Upon the Speaker's request, police personnel are sent by the National Police Agency, and are placed under the Speaker's direction.[1] The Speaker may then order arrest or removal of a member of the House or a visitor.

According to Chapter XIV Chapter 116 of the Diet law, when a member of the House of Representatives acts in a disorderly manner, the Speaker can warn them or make them withdraw their statements. If the member does not obey these orders, the Speaker can forbid the member to speak or make the member leave the chamber until the end of the proceedings. If the chamber goes out of control and becomes over chaotic, the Speaker may also temporarily suspend or adjourn the sitting for the day.[1]

List of speakers

SpeakerPolitical partyTerm startTerm end
Imperial Diet
Nobuyuki Nakajima
Rikken JiyūtōNovember 26, 1890December 25, 1891
Hoshi Tōru
Rikken JiyūtōMay 3, 1892December 13, 1893
Kusumoto Masataka
Dōmei ClubDecember 15, 1893December 30, 1893
Rikken KakushintōMay 12, 1894June 2, 1894
October 15, 1894June 8, 1896
Kazuo Hatoyama
ShimpotōDecember 22, 1896December 25, 1897
Kenkichi Kataoka
Rikken SeiyūkaiMay 15, 1898June 10, 1898
November 9, 1898December 28, 1902
May 9, 1903October 31, 1903
Hironaka Kōno
KenseitōDecember 5, 1903December 11, 1903
Masahisa Matsuda
Rikken SeiyūkaiMarch 18, 1904January 19, 1906
Teiichi Sugita
Rikken SeiyūkaiJanuary 23, 1906December 23, 1908
Sumitaka Haseba
Rikken SeiyūkaiDecember 23, 1908September 6, 1911
Ikuzō Ōoka
Rikken SeiyūkaiDecember 24, 1911March 6, 1914
Sumitaka Haseba
Rikken SeiyūkaiMarch 7, 1914March 15, 1914
Shigesaburō Oku
Rikken SeiyūkaiMarch 17, 1914December 25, 1914
Saburō Shimada
Rikken DōshikaiMay 17, 1915January 25, 1917
Ikuzō Ōoka
Rikken SeiyūkaiJune 21, 1917February 26, 1920
Shigesaburō Oku
Rikken SeiyūkaiJune 26, 1920February 16, 1923
Gizō Kasuya
Rikken SeiyūkaiFebruary 17, 1923January 31, 1924
IndependentJune 26, 1924March 25, 1927
Shigeru Morita
KenseikaiMarch 26, 1927January 21, 1928
Hajime Motoda
Rikken SeiyūkaiApril 20, 1928March 14, 1929
Mosuke Kawahara
Rikken SeiyūkaiMarch 15, 1929May 15, 1929
Zenbē Horikiri
Rikken SeiyūkaiDecember 26, 1929January 21, 1930
Ikunosuke Fujisawa
Rikken MinseitōApril 23, 1930April 13, 1931
Keijirō Nakamura
Rikken MinseitōDecember 26, 1931January 21, 1932
Kiyoshi Akita
Rikken SeiyūkaiMarch 18, 1932December 13, 1932
Kunimatsu Hamada
Rikken SeiyūkaiDecember 24, 1934January 21, 1936
Kōjirō Tomita
Rikken MinseitōMay 1, 1936March 31, 1937
Shōju Koyama
Rikken MinseitōJuly 23, 1937December 22, 1941
Kazutami Tago
Taisei YokusankaiDecember 24, 1941May 25, 1942
Tadahiko Okada
Taisei YokusankaiMay 25, 1942April 9, 1945
Toshio Shimada
Taisei YokusankaiJune 8, 1945December 18, 1945
Senzō Higai
LiberalMay 22, 1946August 23, 1946
Takeshi Yamazaki
LiberalMay 22, 1946August 23, 1946
National Diet
Komakichi Matsuoka
SocialistMay 21, 1947December 23, 1948
Kijūrō Shidehara
LiberalFebruary 11, 1949March 10, 1951
Jōji Hayashi
LiberalMarch 13, 1951August 1, 1952
Banboku Ōno
LiberalAugust 26, 1952August 28, 1952
October 24, 1952March 14, 1953
Yasujirō Tsutsumi
KaishintōMay 18, 1953December 10, 1954
Tō Matsunaga
DemocraticDecember 11, 1954January 24, 1955
Shūji Masutani
Liberal DemocraticMarch 18, 1955April 25, 1958
Nirō Hoshijima
Liberal DemocraticJune 11, 1958December 13, 1958
Ryōgorō Katō
Liberal DemocraticDecember 13, 1958February 1, 1960
Ichirō Kiyose
Liberal DemocraticFebruary 1, 1960October 24, 1960
December 7, 1960October 23, 1963
Naka Funada
Liberal DemocraticDecember 7, 1963December 20, 1965
Kikuichirō Yamaguchi
Liberal DemocraticDecember 20, 1965December 3, 1966
Kentarō Ayabe
Liberal DemocraticDecember 3, 1966December 27, 1966
Mitsujirō Ishii
Liberal DemocraticFebruary 15, 1967July 16, 1969
Takechiyo Matsuda
Liberal DemocraticDecember 3, 1969December 27, 1969
Naka Funada
Liberal DemocraticJanuary 14, 1970November 13, 1972
Umekichi Nakamura
Liberal DemocraticDecember 22, 1972May 29, 1973
Shigesaburō Maeo
Liberal DemocraticMay 29, 1973December 9, 1976
Shigeru Hori
Liberal DemocraticDecember 24, 1976February 1, 1979
Hirokichi Nadao
Liberal DemocraticFebruary 1, 1979September 7, 1979
October 30, 1979May 19, 1980
Hajime Fukuda
Liberal DemocraticJuly 17, 1980November 28, 1983
Kenji Fukunaga
Liberal DemocraticDecember 26, 1983January 24, 1985
Michita Sakata
Liberal DemocraticJanuary 24, 1985June 2, 1986
Kenzaburō Hara
Liberal DemocraticJuly 22, 1986June 2, 1989
Hajime Tamura
Liberal DemocraticJune 2, 1989January 24, 1990
Yoshio Sakurauchi
Liberal DemocraticFebruary 27, 1990June 18, 1993
Takako Doi
SocialistAugust 6, 1993September 27, 1996
Soichiro Ito
Liberal DemocraticNovember 7, 1996June 2, 2000
Tamisuke Watanuki
Liberal DemocraticJuly 4, 2000October 10, 2003
Yōhei Kōno
Liberal DemocraticNovember 19, 2003August 8, 2005
September 21, 2005July 21, 2009
Takahiro Yokomichi
DemocraticSeptember 16, 2009November 16, 2012
Bunmei Ibuki
Liberal DemocraticDecember 26, 2012November 21, 2014
Nobutaka Machimura
Liberal DemocraticDecember 24, 2014April 21, 2015
Tadamori Ōshima
Liberal DemocraticApril 21, 2015September 28, 2017
November 1, 2017October 14, 2021
Hiroyuki Hosoda
Liberal DemocraticNovember 10, 2021October 20, 2023
Fukushiro Nukaga
Liberal Democratic20 October 2023Incumbent

List of vice speakers

Vice speakerPolitical partyTerm startTerm end
Imperial Diet
Tsuda Mamichi
TaiseikaiNovember 26, 1890December 25, 1891
Sone Arasuke
Chuo ClubMay 3, 1892August 31, 1893
Kusumoto Masataka
Dōmei ClubNovember 26, 1893December 15, 1893
Abei Iwane
IndependentDecember 18, 1893December 30, 1893
Kenkichi Kataoka
Rikken JiyūtōMay 12, 1894June 2, 1894
Saburō Shimada
Rikken KaishintōOctober 15, 1894December 25, 1897
Hajime Motoda
Kokumin KyōkaiMay 18, 1898June 10, 1898
November 9, 1898December 7, 1902
Rikken SeiyūkaiDecember 7, 1902December 28, 1902
Teiichi Sugita
Rikken SeiyūkaiMay 9, 1903December 11, 1903
Minoura Katsundo
Kensei HontōMarch 18, 1904December 23, 1908
Koizuka Ryū
Rikken KokumintōDecember 23, 1908August 21, 1912
Naohiko Seki
Rikken KokumintōAugust 21, 1912December 25, 1914
Takuzō Hanai
ChūseikaiMay 17, 1915December 26, 1915
Hayami Seiji
ChūseikaiDecember 26, 1915January 25, 1917
Kunimatsu Hamada
Rikken KokumintōJune 21, 1917February 26, 1920
Gizō Kasuya
Rikken SeiyūkaiJune 29, 1920February 17, 1923
Genji Matsuda
Rikken SeiyūkaiFebruary 17, 1923January 31, 1924
Koizumi Matajirō
KenseikaiJune 26, 1924March 25, 1927
Gohē Matsūra
SeiyūhontōMarch 26, 1927January 21, 1928
Ichirō Kiyose
KakushintōApril 20, 1928January 21, 1930
Shōju Koyama
Rikken MinseitōApril 21, 1930December 22, 1931
Giichi Masuda
IndependentDecember 23, 1931January 21, 1932
Etsujirō Uehara
Rikken SeiyūkaiMarch 18, 1932January 21, 1936
Tadahiko Okada
Rikken SeiyūkaiMay 1, 1936March 21, 1937
Tsuneo Kanemitsu
Rikken SeiyūkaiJuly 23, 1937August 31, 1939
Kazutami Tago
Rikken SeiyūkaiDecember 23, 1939December 22, 1941
Sakusaburo Uchigasaki
Taisei YokusankaiDecember 24, 1941June 7, 1945
Eikichi Katsuta
Taisei YokusankaiJune 8, 1945December 18, 1945
Kozaemon Kimura
ProgressiveMay 22, 1946February 15, 1947
Tomoharu Inoue
ProgressiveFebruary 21, 1947March 31, 1947
National Diet
Man'itsu Tanaka
DemocraticMay 21, 1947December 23, 1948
Nobuyuki Iwamoto
Democratic LiberalFebruary 11, 1949August 28, 1952
October 24, 1952March 14, 1953
Hyō Hara
Left SocialistMay 18, 1953December 15, 1954
Masamichi Takatsu
Left SocialistDecember 15, 1954January 24, 1955
Motojirō Sugiyama
Right SocialistMarch 18, 1955April 25, 1958
Saburō Shīkuma
Liberal DemocraticJune 11, 1958December 13, 1958
Kiyoshi Masaki
SocialistDecember 13, 1958January 30, 1960
Takaichi Nakamura
SocialistJanuary 30, 1960October 24, 1960
Tsurumatsu Kubota
SocialistDecember 7, 1960June 8, 1961
Kenzaburō Hara
Liberal DemocraticJune 8, 1961October 23, 1963
Isaji Tanaka
Liberal DemocraticDecember 7, 1963December 20, 1965
Sunao Sonoda
Liberal DemocraticDecember 20, 1965December 27, 1966
February 15, 1967November 25, 1967
Hisao Kodaira
Liberal DemocraticDecember 4, 1967July 16, 1969
Sensuke Fujieda
Liberal DemocraticJuly 16, 1969December 2, 1969
Seijuro Arafune
Liberal DemocraticJanuary 14, 1970January 29, 1972
Shirō Hasegawa
Liberal DemocraticJanuary 29, 1972November 13, 1972
Daisuke Akita
Liberal DemocraticDecember 22, 1972December 9, 1976
Shōichi Miyake
SocialistDecember 24, 1976September 7, 1979
Haruo Okada
SocialistOctober 30, 1979May 19, 1980
July 17, 1980November 28, 1983
Seiichi Katsumata
SocialistDecember 26, 1983June 2, 1986
Shinnen Tagaya
SocialistJuly 22, 1986June 2, 1989
Yoshinori Yasui
SocialistJune 2, 1989January 24, 1990
Kiichi Murayama
SocialistFebruary 27, 1990June 18, 1993
Hyōsuke Kujiraoka
Liberal DemocraticAugust 6, 1993September 27, 1996
Kōzō Watanabe
New FrontierNovember 7, 1996June 2, 2000
Assembly of IndependentsJuly 4, 2000October 10, 2003
Kansei Nakano
DemocraticNovember 19, 2003August 8, 2005
Takahiro Yokomichi
DemocraticSeptember 21, 2005July 21, 2009
Seishirō Etō
Liberal DemocraticSeptember 16, 2009November 16, 2012
Hirotaka Akamatsu
DemocraticDecember 26, 2012November 21, 2014
Tatsuo Kawabata
DemocraticDecember 24, 2014September 28, 2017
Hirotaka Akamatsu
Constitutional DemocraticNovember 1, 2017October 14, 2021
Banri Kaieda
Constitutional DemocraticNovember 10, 2021Incumbent

Notes and References

  1. News: Diet Law of the Constitution of Japan.

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