Tohoku proportional representation block explained

Tōhoku Proportional Representation Block
Type:	Parliamentary
Constituency Link:	Tōhoku proportional representation block
Parl Name:	Japanese House of Representatives
District Label:	Prefectures
District:	Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata, and Fukushima
Electorate:	7,538,808
Year:	1994
Members Label:	Representatives
Elects Howmany:	13
Party Label:	Party

The is one of eleven proportional representation (PR) blocks for the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It consists of the Tōhoku region, namely the prefectures of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Akita, Yamagata and Fukushima. Upon the introduction of proportional voting at the 1996 general election, the block elected 16 Representatives to the House. The block's representation was reduced to 14 Representatives at the 2000 general election, and to 13 in the 2017 election.^[1]

Summary of results

All major national parties have managed to obtain at least one of the PR seats in Tōhoku since the introduction of proportional voting in 1996. The region also contains several strongholds: Aomori in particular is a typical "conservative kingdom" and leans towards the LDP along with the Western prefectures along the Sea of Japan coast; Iwate is the home of Ichirō Ozawa, former NFP, LP and DPJ president and a "Democratic kingdom" having also the first prefectural parliament in Japan where the Democrats managed to obtain the status of strongest party in 2007.

General election				DPJ						JCP						NFP ('96)/ LP ('00)/ TPJ ('12)/ PLP ('14)			JRP ('12)/ JIP ('14)						Others
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
1996	1,630,777	35.3	6	513,410	11.1	2	–			442,790	9.6	1	382,271	8.3	1	1,532,987	33.2	6	–						121,828	2.6	0
2000	1,545,028	32.0	5	1,024,253	21.2	3	474,238	9.8	1	391,055	8.1	1	517,267	10.7	1	786,751	16.3	3	–						96,174	2.0	0
2003	1,794,284	37.6	6	1,784,768	37.4	5	565,179	11.9	1	313,290	6.6	1	310,187	6.5	1	–			–						–
2005	1,901,595	36.5	6	1,748,165	33.6	5	620,638	11.9	1	325,176	6.2	1	362,523	7.0	1	–			–						244,933	4.7	0
2009	1,491,761	27.9	4	2,433,836	45.5	7	516,688	9.7	1	315,201	5.9	1	316,635	5.9	1	–			–			241,445	4.5	0	36,295	0.7	0
2012	1,238,716	28.6	5	805,709	18.6	3	398,131	9.2	1	256,838	5.9	1	160,367	3.7	0	391,216	9.0	1	725,006	16.7	2	306,102	7.1	1	56,412	1.3	0
2014	1,265,372	32.9	5	863,539	22.5	4	431,169	11.2	2	379,811	9.9	1	131,857	3.4	0	181,487	4.7	0	499,437	13.0	2	–			89,227	2.3	0

List of representatives

Elected Representatives
	Tenure
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Zenmei Matsumoto JCP							width=1px style="background-color: "		Chizuko Takahashi JCP																			width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kenjirō Hatakeyama SDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Tetsuo Kanno SDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Kiyohiro Yamamoto SDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Tetsuo Kanno SDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Hideo Yoshiizumi SDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Kōji Hata TPJ	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kōji Hata PLP (from 2013)	width=1px style="background-color: "		Emi Kaneko DPJ	width=1px style="background-color: "		Emi Kaneko DP (from 2016)	width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Ichirō Hino (died 2003) DPJ					width=1px style="background-color: "		Masayo Tanabu DPJ	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kiyohito Hashimoto DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Masayo Tanabu DPJ							width=1px style="background-color: "		Kazuko Kōri DPJ					width=1px style="background-color: "		Kazuko Kōri DP (from 2016)	width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kenji Kodama DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Takao Satō DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Yōsuke Kondō DPJ							width=1px style="background-color: "		Noriko Nakanowatami DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Yōsuke Kondō DPJ					width=1px style="background-color: "		Yōsuke Kondō DP (from 2016)	width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Yasusuke Konta NFP	width=1px style="background-color: "		Yasasuke Konta DPJ (from 1998)					width=1px style="background-color: "		Izumi Yoshida DPJ							width=1px style="background-color: "		Kazuo Takamatsu DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Izumi Yoshida DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Manabu Terata DPJ	width=1px style="background-color: "		Manabu Terata DP (from 2016)	width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kijūrō Sugahara NFP	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kijūrō Sugahara (resigned 2001) Lib. (from 1998)			width=1px style="background-color: "		Kentarō Ishihara Lib.	width=1px style="background-color: "		Michihiko Kano DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Kazuko Kōri DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Kazuyuki Yamaguchi DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Shinji Oguma JRP	width=1px style="background-color: "		Shinji Oguma JIP (from 2014)	width=1px style="background-color: "		Sekio Masuta JIP	width=1px style="background-color: "		Sekio Masuta DP (from 2016)	width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Tatsuo Sasayama NFP	width=1px style="background-color: "		Tatsuo Sasayama Lib. (from 1998)	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kentarō Kudō Lib.			width=1px style="background-color: "		Teruhiko Mashiko DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Hokuto Yokoyama DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Kyōichi Tsushima DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Toshihide Muraoka JRP (until 2014)	width=1px style="background-color: "		Toshihide Muraoka JRP (2014-15)	width=1px style="background-color: "		Toshihide Muraoka Vision of Reform (2015-16)	width=1px style="background-color: "		Toshihide Muraoka DP (from 2016)	width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Yoshihisa Inoue NFP	width=1px style="background-color: "		Yoshihisa Inoue Komeito (from 1998)																									width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kōdō Kohata NFP	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kōdō Kohata DPJ (from 1998)	width=1px style="background-color: "		Yoshinobu Takahashi Lib.			width=1px style="background-color: "		Masashi Nakano LDP							width=1px style="background-color: "		Miki Wajima (resigned in 2012) DPJ	width=1px style="background-color: "		Ippu Watanabe DPJ	width=1px style="background-color: "		Hiroki Hayashi YP	width=1px style="background-color: "		Hiroki Hayashi Unity Party (2013-14); member of JIP for 2 months in 2014	width=1px style="background-color: "		Yūichi Mayama Komeito			width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kōki Hagino NFP	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kōki Hagino LDP (from 1998)									width=1px style="background-color: "		Atsushi Watanabe LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Chōuemon Kikuchi DPJ			width=1px style="background-color: "		Sachiko Kanno LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Ichirō Kanke LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Hidefumi Minorikawa (died 2003) LDP					width=1px style="background-color: "		Kyōichi Tsushima LDP					width=1px style="background-color: "		Tatsuo Satō LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Katsutoshi Kaneda LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Miyo Ōkubo LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Shigeaki Katsunama LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Ichio Kumagai LDP							width=1px style="background-color: "		Tokuichirō Tamazawa LDP							width=1px style="background-color: "		Kenya Akiba LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Hinako Takahashi LDP							width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Kōji Futada LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Hiroyuki Arai LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Kōji Futada LDP							width=1px style="background-color: "		Masayoshi Yoshino LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Hidenori Hashimoto LDP							width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Toshiaki Endō LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Kōji Sakamoto LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Masayoshi Yoshino LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Kōji Sakamoto LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Toshiaki Endō LDP			width=1px style="background-color: "		Takashi Fujiwara LDP							width=1px style="background-color: "
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Tokuichirō Tamazawa LDP			Seat abolished
Rep. Party	width=1px style="background-color: "		Yoshiyuki Hozumi LDP			Seat abolished

Recent results

• #: List rank assigned by the party
• District column: For double candidates who concurrently ran in a single-member electoral district, the district column contains the electoral district where they stood and the sekihairitsu (lit. "narrow defeat ratio"), the ratio of margin of defeat. It determines the ranking of candidates who are put on the same list rank by their party.
• (in parentheses): Double candidates who are not eligible for election in the proportional block either because they won their district races or were disqualified for having received less than 10% of the vote in the district race (also the threshold for losing the deposit)

2014

Tōhoku block results in the 2014 general House of Representatives election^[2] ! # !! Candidate !! District !! Status! # !! Candidate !! District !! Status! # !! Candidate !! District !! Status

LDP: 1,265,372 votes (32.9%), 5 seats

DPJ: 863,539 votes (22.5%), 4 seats

JIP: 499,437 votes (13.0%), 2 seats

1

(Jun Tsushima)

Aomori 1 (won)

1

(Takeshi Shina)

Iwate 1 (won)

1

(Shinji Oguma)

Fukushima 4 (won)

(Akinori Eto)

Aomori 2 (won)

(Tōru Kikawada)

Iwate 3 (won)

Aomori 1 (94.2%)

Elected

(Tadamori Ōshima)

Aomori 3 (won)

(Jun Azumi)

Miyagi 5 (won)

Akita 3 (94.0%)

Elected

(Tarō Kumura)

Aomori 4 (won)

(Kōichirō Genba)

Fukushima 3 (won)

Miyagi 2 (66.4%)

–

(Shun'ichi Suzuki)

Iwate 2 (won)

Fukushima 1 (94.8%)

Elected

Aomori 2 (34.8%)

–

(Tōru Doi)

Miyagi 1 (won)

Yamagata 2 (92.3%)

Elected

Kōmeitō: 431,169 votes (11.2%), 2 seats

(Ken'ya Akiba)

Miyagi 2 (won)

Akita 1 (87.0%)

Elected

1

–

Elected

(Akihiro Nishimura)

Miyagi 3 (won)

Miyagi 1 (86.8%)

Elected

2

–

Elected

(Shintarō Itō)

Miyagi 4 (won)

Fukushima 5 (84.4%)

–

JCP: 379,811 votes (9.9%), 1 seat

(Itsunori Onodera)

Miyagi 6 (won)

Aomori 3 (82.8%)

–

1

–

Elected

(Hiroyuki Togashi)

Akita 1 (won)

Takashi Midorikawa

Akita 2 (69.1%)

–

2

Tomo Iwabuchi

–

–

(Katsutoshi Kaneda)

Akita 2 (won)

Miyagi 3 (64.2%)

–

PLP: 181,487 votes (4.7%), no seat

(Nobuhide Minorikawa)

Akita 3 (won)

Mitsunori Akabe

Fukushima 2 (63.6%)

–

1

(Ichirō Ozawa)

Iwate 4 (won)

(Toshiaki Endō)

Yamagata 1 (won)

Miyagi 4 (51.2%)

–

Iwate 2 (84.1%)

-

(Norikazu Suzuki)

Yamagata 2 (won)

Takashi Yamauchi

Aomori 4 (48.1%)

–

3

Sadao Hirano

–

–

(Ayuko Katō)

Yamagata 3 (won)

Masahiro Harada

Yamagata 1 (46.7%)

–

PFG: 71,026 votes (1.8%), no seat

(Yoshitami Kameoka)

Fukushima 1 (won)

Miyagi 6 (32.4%)

–

1

(Teruaki Masumoto)

Miyagi 2 (16.7%)

DQ

(Takumi Nemoto)

Fukushima 2 (won)

(Taisei Yoshida)

Yamagata 3 (20.0%)

DQ

2

Nakako Uda

–

–

(Masayoshi Yoshino)

Fukushima 5 (won)

19

Yoshiaki Kobayashi

–

–

HRP: 18,201 votes (0.5%), no seat

Fukushima 4 (99.2%)

Elected

SDP: 131,857 votes (3.4%), no seat

1

Hisshō Yanai

–

–

Iwate 4 (76.7%)

Elected

1

(Uzen Ogawa)

Fukushima 4 (17.8%)

DQ

2

Ryōta Shirotori

–

–

Iwate 1 (60.4%)

Elected

(Takashi Kuwajima)

Miyagi 2 (12.8%)

DQ

3

Tetsushi Yui

–

–

Iwate 3 (57.4%)

Elected

(Mitsumasa Hosokawa)

Iwate 1 (11.7%)

DQ

Miyagi 5 (52.9%)

Elected

(Masamichi Itō)

Akita 1 (8.1%)

DQ

Kentarō Uesugi

Fukushima 3 (52.0%)

5

Masahiro Kimura

–

–

26

–

–

27

Osamu Yoshida

–

–

28

Fumito Murakami

–

–

2012

Tōhoku block results in the 2012 general House of Representatives election^[3] ! # !! Candidate !! District !! Status! # !! Candidate !! District !! Status! # !! Candidate !! District !! Status

LDP: 1,238,716 votes (28.6%), 5 seats

DPJ: 805,709 votes (18.6%), 3 seats

JRP: 725,006 votes (16.7%), 2 seats

1

(Jun Tsushima)

Aomori 1 (won)

1

(Takeshi Shina)

Iwate 1 (won)

1

Fukushima 4 (69.7%)

Elected

(Akinori Eto)

Aomori 2 (won)

(Tōru Kikawada)

Iwate 3 (won)

2

Akita 3 (76.5%)

Elected

(Tadamori Ōshima)

Aomori 3 (won)

(Jun Azumi)

Miyagi 5 (won)

Sekio Masuta

Aomori 1 (64.7%)

–

(Tarō Kimura)

Aomori 4 (won)

(Kōichirō Genba)

Fukushima 3 (won)

4

Miyagi 2 (59.1%)

–

(Shun'ichi Suzuki)

Iwate 2 (won)

Fukushima 5 (88.7%)

Elected

Fukushima 5 (42.8%)

–

(Tōru Doi)

Miyagi 1 (won)

Yamagata 2 (81.2%)

Elected

Masaki Hatakeyama

Miyagi 4 (38.2%)

–

(Ken'ya Akiba)

Miyagi 2 (won)

Miyagi 1 (69.6%)

Elected

Takeaharu Satō

Yamagata 3 (35.2%)

–

(Akihiro Nishimura)

Miyagi 3 (won)

Yamagata 1 (68.9%)

–

Kazunori Midorikawa

Fukushima 2 (27.9%)

–

(Shintarō Itō)

Miyagi 4 (won)

Miyagi 4 (67.6%)

–

Hiroaki Kawano

Yamagata 2 (26.1%)

–

(Itsunori Onodera)

Miyagi 6 (won)

Akita 1 (67.1%)

–

(Nobuhiro Ōmiya)

Akita 1 (20.9%)

DQ

(Hiroyuki Togashi)

Akita 1 (won)

Akita 2 (62.5%)

–

Kōmeitō: 398,131 votes (9.2%), 1 seat

(Katsutoshi Kaneda)

Akita 2 (won)

Aomori 3 (61.6%)

–

1

–

Elected

(Nobuhide Minorikawa)

Akita 3 (won)

Miyagi 3 (53.2%)

–

2

Yūichi Mayama

–

–

(Toshiaki Endō)

Yamagata 1 (won)

Miyagi 2 (45.8%)

–

TPJ 391,216 votes (9.0%), 1 seat

(Norikazu Suzuki)

Yamagata 2 (won)

Hideki Ōba

Fukushima 1 (36.7%)

–

1

Iwate 2 (65.9%)

Elected

(Yoshitami Kameoka)

Fukushima 1 (won)

Toshiaki Oikawa

Iwate 4 (36.6%)

–

Miyagi 2 (44.8%)

–

(Takumi Nemoto)

Fukushima 2 (won)

Aomori 4 (33.6%)

–

Aomori 1 (43.7%)

–

(Ichirō Kanke)

Fukushima 4 (won)

Yasuo Saitō

Fukushima 2 (26.4%)

–

Fukushima 1 (41.3%)

–

(Gōji Sakamoto)

Fukushima 5 (won)

Mariko Mitsui

Akita 3 (24.3%)

–

Fukushima 2 (27.1%)

–

Iwate 1 (78.7%)

Elected

Tomonobu Nakamura

Aomori 2 (22.9%)

–

Akita 3 (25.9%)

–

Iwate 4 (61.3%)

Elected

Miyagi 6 (21.5%)

–

(Kazuo Takamatsu)

Akita 1 (13.2%)

DQ

Iwate 3 (57.8%)

Elected

(Rina Hatano)

Aomori 1 (23.3%)

DQ

8

–

–

Miyagi 5 (47.8%)

Elected

YP 306,102 votes (7.1%), 1 seat

9

Yōko Tasso

Iwate 1 (74.5%)

–

Fukushima 3 (45.2%)

Elected

1

Miyagi 1 (43.7%)

Elected

Naomi Satō

Iwate 3 (69.4%)

–

25

Osamu Yoshida

–

–

Fumihiro Kikuchi

Miyagi 2 (30.2%)

–

Aomori 2 (22.1%)

–

26

Fumito Murakami

–

–

(Kazumasa Sugamoto)

Fukushima 5 (16.5%)

DQ

(Masato Yokota)

Miyagi 1 (18.9%)

DQ

JCP: 256,838 votes (5.9%), 1 seat

SDP: 160,367 votes (3.7%), no seat

(Takashi Yamanouchi)

Aomori 3 (17.1%)

DQ

1

–

Elected

1

Yamagata 3 (31.9%)

–

(Nobuko Abe)

Miyagi 5 (12.7%)

DQ

2

Tomo Iwabuchi

–

–

Hiroshi Ishida

Akita 2 (23.4%)

–

(Kiichi Matsumoto)

Fukushima 5 (11.2%)

DQ

NRP: 41,587 votes (1.0%), no seat

Uzen Ogawa

Fukushima 4 (21.9%)

–

16

Tamikazu Kawaguchi

–

–

1

Kentarō Uesugi

–

–

(Masahiro Isawa)

Iwate 1 (17.7%)

DQ

HRP 14,825 votes (0.3%), no seat

–

(Takashi Kuwajima)

Miyagi 1 (7.4%)

DQ

1

Hironori Matsushima

–

–

6

Fumiyo Yamana

–

–

2

Shūji Nakanishi

–

–

7

–

–

3

Hidemitsu Sakai

–

–

2009

Tōhoku block results in the 2009 general election^{[4] [5]}

LDP: 1,491,761 votes (27.9%), 4 seats					DPJ: 2,433,836 votes (45.5%), 7 seats					Kōmeitō: 516,688 votes (9.7%), 1 seat
	Candidate	District		Elected		Candidate	District	"Loss ratio"	Elected		Candidate	District	"Loss ratio"	Elected
1		Fukushima 3	(35.5%)	Elected	1		Aomori 3	99.5%	Elected	1		PR only		Elected
2		PR only		Elected			Aomori 4	86.8%	Elected	2	Kaneshige Wakamatsu			–
3		Yamagata 1	98.7%	Elected			Aomori 2	74.2%	Elected	3	Tetsuya Kawamata			–
		Akita 2	98.5%	Elected			Aomori 1	Won district		JCP: 315,201 votes (5.9%), 1 seat
		Aomori 2	Won district				Iwate 1	Won district			Candidate	District	"Loss ratio"	Elected
		Aomori 3	Won district				Iwate 2	Won district		1		PR only		Elected
		Aomori 4	Won district				Iwate 3	Won district		2	Shizue Miyamoto			–
		Miyagi 6	Won district				Miyagi 1	Won district		3	Satoshi Suzuki	Akita 1	17.0%	–
		Yamagata 3	Won district				Miyagi 2	Won district			Mikio Katō	Miyagi 4	9.9%	–
		Akita 3	88.9%	–			Miyagi 3	Won district			Yō Yoshimata	Aomori 1	7.8%	–
		Fukushima 1	87.4%	–			Miyagi 4	Won district			Sadakiyo Segawa		6.1%	–
		Fukushima 2	84.9%	–			Miyagi 5	Won district			Masayuki Satō	Yamagata 1	5.6%	–
		Iwate 2	82.1%	–			Akita 1	Won district		SDP: 316,635 votes (5.9%), 1 seat
		Miyagi 3	79.0%	–			Akita 3	Won district			Candidate	District	"Loss ratio"	Elected
		Miyagi 4	77.2%	–			Yamagata 1	Won district		1		Yamagata 3	61.5%	Elected
	Masami Saitō	Miyagi 5	70.7%	–			Yamagata 2	Won district				Miyagi 6	53.6%	–
		Akita 1	66.3%	–			Fukushima 1	Won district				Akita 2	25.2%	–
		Fukushima 5	65.5%	–			Fukushima 2	Won district			Senryō Obara		21.5%	–
		Miyagi 2	62.3%	–			Fukushima 3	Won district			Hidehiko Watanabe	Aomori 1	12.6%	–
		Miyagi 1	58.2%	–			Fukushima 4	Won district			Masahiro Isawa	Iwate 1	11.2%	–
		Fukushima 4	53.8%	–			Fukushima 5	Won district		YP: 241,445 votes (4.5%), no seat
	Hironori Suzuki	Yamagata 2	48.7%	–	22		PR only		Elected		Candidate	District	"Loss ratio"	Elected
	Hidenori Hashimoto	Iwate 3	46.9%	–	23				Elected	1	Shinji Oguma	Fukushima 4	46.7%	–
	Hinako Takahashi	Iwate 1	43.4%	–	24				Elected		Shigehito Sasaki	Akita 2	9.2%	–
			31.1%	–	25				Elected	HRP: 36,295 votes (0.7%), no seat
26	Nobuhiro Ōmiya	PR only		–	26	Tamikazu Kawaguchi			– (removed)		Candidate	District	"Loss ratio"	Elected
27	Shigeyo Nagaoka			–	27	Ippu Watanabe			– (in 2012)	1	Hironori Matsushima	PR only		–
28	Hisataka Satō			–	28	Hisashi Suzuki			–	2	Yukiya Uejō			–
–										3	Maki Akimoto			–

References

• JANJAN, The Senkyo: Results of general and by-elections for the House of Representatives 1890–2010

Notes and References

1. [Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications|MIC]
2. Web site: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/shugiin/2014/kaihyou/yc82.html. ja:総選挙2014>開票結果 比例代表 東北（定数14）. Yomiuri Shimbun. 2015-12-01. Japanese.
3. Web site: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/shugiin/2012/kaihyou/yc82.htm. ja:総選挙2012>開票結果 比例代表 東北（定数14）. Yomiuri Shimbun. 2013-02-08. Japanese.
4. [Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications]
5. [Yomiuri Shimbun]