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The 2023 Japanese unified local elections were held across the country on 9 and 23 April 2023. In total 15,047 candidates were elected in 1008 races with a high of 1,685 in Hokkaido and a low of 1 in Okinawa.[1]

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) scored a comfortable victory. Six LDP (and Komei) endorsed candidates won the governorship. The LDP also managed to win more than half of all the prefectural assembly seats in the prefecture that held elections.[2]

Major victories were also won by Nippon Ishin no Kai. In addition to winning in its home base of Osaka, Ishin also won the contest for governor of Nara and increased the number of seats it now holds in neighboring prefectures. The party secured majorities in the Osaka prefectural and municipal assemblies for the first time ever, and they even took home six seats in the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly.[3]

Turnouts this month were at record lows for all elections with the exception of the Hakodate mayoral contest[4] and mayoral and assembly races in Tokyo wards which were higher than the last election but still did not top 50%.[5]

This maintains a pattern in Japan, where fewer and fewer people are casting ballots ever since the LDP took back control in 2012.[4]

Background

LDP's declining popularity and Kishida's attempts to rebound it

Since the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the historically dominant LDP began to face strong criticism over its link to the Unification Church. Abe's murderer Tetsuya Yamagami had claimed that his family was bankrupted by the church. Soon after the assassination, the Japanese media ventured into investigations which unearthed pervasive links between some of the LDP's senior politicians and the church, leading to a decline in the LDP's approval.[2]

However, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ramped up efforts to salvage his party's reputation. He promised to double defense spending and held a meeting with the South Korean President. He also paid a surprise visit to Ukraine. These foreign and defense policy achievements bolstered his approval rating.[2][6]

Candidate shortage

One of the most critical issues of this election was a shortage of candidates. 556 candidates in nearly 40% of the districts ran uncontested. This reflected the increasingly dysfunctional nature of Japanese society due to its rapid population decline.[7]

April elections by prefecture in Stage 1 and 2

Source:[8]

1008 elections were held across all prefectures. The number of elections held by prefecture varied greatly from a low of one in Toyama and Okinawa prefectures to a high of 177 in the prefecture of Hokkaido which was by far the largest number.

Stage 1 on 9 April featured the following elections:

Governor Prefectural Assembly City Mayor City Council
9 41 6 16

Stage 2 on 23 April featured the following elections:

City Mayor City Council Ward Mayor Ward Council Town Head Town Council Village Head Village Council
88 306 12 21 97 296 28 88

This is the total list of all elections held on 9 and 23 April broken down by prefecture and position:

Prefecture 9 April 2023 Elections 23 April 2023 Elections
都道府県 Prefecture Governor Prefectural Assembly City Mayor City Council City Mayor City Council Ward Mayor Ward Council Town Head Town Council Village Head Village Council Total by Prefecture
愛知県 Aichi 1 1 6 23 2 12 1 2 48
秋田県 Akita 1 1 2 2 6
青森県 Aomori 1 1 4 1 11 6 24
千葉県 Chiba 1 1 4 17 1 5 29
愛媛 Ehime 1 1 2
福井県 Fukui 1 1 1 3 3 9
福岡県 Fukuoka 1 1 3 14 7 15 41
福島県 Fukushima 1 3 2 2 4 12
岐阜県 Gifu 1 4 10 3 7 1 1 27
群馬県 Gunma 1 2 8 3 8 3 6 31
広島県 Hiroshima 1 1 1 2 3 1 2 11
北海道 Hokkaido 1 1 1 1 11 27 31 86 4 14 177
兵庫県 Hyogo 1 1 3 9 1 2 17
茨城県 Ibaraki 3 13 2 3 1 1 23
石川県 Ishikawa 1 2 5 1 5 14
岩手県 Iwate 1 1 1 3 6
香川県 Kagawa 1 2 5 4 12
鹿児島 Kagoshima 1 3 2 4 1 11
神奈川県 Kanagawa 1 1 1 3 3 10 2 5 26
高知県 Kochi 1 3 2 7 1 3 17
熊本県 Kumamoto 1 1 1 4 7 10 1 3 28
京都府 Kyoto 1 1 3 6 2 13
三重県 Mie 1 2 4 2 2 11
宮城県 Miyagi 1 1 1 1 4
宮崎県 Miyazaki 1 7 3 6 1 3 21
長野県 Nagano 1 2 7 3 13 4 15 45
長崎県 Nagasaki 1 2 3 2 5 13
奈良県 Nara 1 1 3 6 1 11 3 7 33
新潟県 Niigata 1 1 1 5 2 3 13
大分県 Oita 1 1 2 7 1 1 13
岡山 Okayama 1 1 2 1 2 7
沖縄県 Okinawa 1 1
大阪府 Osaka 1 1 1 1 10 17 4 35
佐賀県 Saga 1 3 1 3 8
埼玉県 Saitama 1 1 2 20 1 12 37
滋賀県 Shiga 1 4 1 2 8
島根県 Shimane 1 1 1 1 4
静岡県 Shizuoka 1 2 1 1 7 3 6 21
栃木県 Tochigi 1 1 5 2 5 14
徳島県 Tokushima 1 1 1 2 4 5 1 15
東京都 Tokyo 4 20 12 21 1 2 1 4 65
鳥取県 Tottori 1 1 2 1 1 6
富山県 Toyama 1 1
和歌山県 Wakayama 1 3 1 5 10
山形県 Yamagata 1 1 6 8 1 1 18
山口県 Yamaguchi 1 1 2 2 6
山梨県 Yamanashi 1 2 4 1 1 1 5 15
Total Positions 9 41 6 16 88 306 12 21 97 296 28 88 1008

Results

Stage 1: 9 April

The LDP secured a comfortable victory in the elections. It won six of the nine gubernatorial races that were in play. Particularly pleasing for the party was its victory in Hokkaido, where the centre-left party CDP had been historically strong. The LDP however failed to do well in Western Japan, notably in Osaka and Nara.[2]

The Japan Innovation Party's victory also attracted significant attention, with political analysts predicting a strong future for it in the second round of local elections and at the national stage.[9]

Voter turnout for the all the gubernatorial elections was 46.8% while the average voter turnout for the mayoral elections in designated cities was 46.6%.

Voter turnout

Gubernatorial Elections
Hokkaido Kanazawa Fukui Osaka Nara Tottori Shimane Tokushima Oita Total
51.7% 40.4% 51.1% 47.0% 54.8% 48.8% 55.0% 54.6% 51.5% 46.8%
Designated City Mayoral Elections
Sapporo Sagamihara Shizuoka Hamamatsu Osaka Hiroshima Total
51.0% 45.5% 45.6% 49.4% 48.3% 34.5% 46.6%

Governors

LDP=Liberal Democratic Party CDP=Constitutional Democratic Party Komeito=Komei JCP=Japan Communist Party NIK=Nippon Ishin no Kai (also refers to Osaka Ishin no Kai) DPFP=Democratic Party for the People SDP=Social Democratic Party, Sanseito=Sansei, Seijika Joshi 48 Party=48

Turnout (%) Party Endorsed by (Recommended by) Candidate Votes %
Fukui Prefecture 51.08 Ind LDP, CDP, Komei Tatsuji Sugimoto 282,097 89.6
JCP Yukie Kanemoto 32,778 10.4
Hokkaido 51.70 Ind LDP, Komeito, NPD Naomichi Suzuki 1,692,436 75.6
Ind CDP (JCP, *DPFP, SDP, Netto Hokkaido) Maki Ikeda 479,678 21.4
Ind Yoshio Monbetsu 40,579 1.8
Ind Daisuke Mihara 24,978 1.1
Kanagawa Prefecture 40.35 Ind *LDP, *Komei, *DPFP Yuji Kuroiwa 1,933,753 67.6
Ind JCP Makiko Kishi 651,473 22.8
48 Ayaka Otsu 151,361 5.3
Ind Kenichiro Kato 123,922 4.3
Nara Prefecture 54.82 Ishin Makoto Yamashita 266,404 44.4
Ind *CDP Shou Hiraki 196,729 32.8
Ind *DPFP Shōgo Arai 97,033 16.2
Ind JCP Itsuzō Oguchi 19,861 3.3
Ind Nobuko Nishiguchi 13,034 2.2
Ind Takashi Hatano 6,806 1.1
Ōita Prefecture 51.45 Ind LDP, *Komeito Kiichiro Sato 271,400 57.3
Ind Kiyoshi Adachi 202,623 42.7
Osaka Prefecture 46.98 Osaka Ishin Hirofumi Yoshimura 2,439,444 73.7
Ind Mayumi Taniguchi 437,972 13.2
Ind JCP Kotaro Tatsumi 263,355 8.0
Sansei Toshiaki Yoshino 114,764 3.5
48 Sayaka Sato 32,459 1.0
Other Hideya Inagaki 22,367 0.7
Shimane Prefecture 54.96 Ind LDP, CDP, Komeito, DPFP Tatsuya Maruyama 251,545 86.3
JCP Shinichi Mukose 29,964 10.3
Other Masaaki Moritane 10,083 3.5
Tokushima Prefecture 54.60 Ind Masazumi Gotoda 130,993 40.0
Ind Tōru Miki 100,309 30.6
Ind *LDP Kamon Iizumi 85,956 26.2
JCP Motonori Furuta 10,546 3.2
Tottori Prefecture 48.85 Ind *LDP, *CDP, *Komeito Shinji Hirai 200,442 91.8
JCP Hideyuki Fukuzumi 17,822 8.2
Source: NHK

Prefectural assemblies

LDP=Liberal Democratic Party CDP=Constitutional Democratic Party Komeito=Komei JCP=Japan Communist Party *NIK=Nippon Ishin no Kai (also refers to Osaka Ishin no Kai) DPFP=Democratic Party for the People SDP=Social Democratic Party Sanseito=Sansei

SEATS WON
Prefecture LDP CDP ISHIN KOMEI JCP DPFP SDP SANSEI OTHER IND
Hokkaido 49 23 1 8 2 0 0 0 0 17
Aomori 25 5 0 2 3 0 0 1 0 12
Iwate 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Miyagi 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Akita 24 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 11
Yamagata 26 3 0 1 2 1 0 0 0 10
Fukushima 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ibaraki 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tochigi 29 3 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 13
Gunma 27 4 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 13
Saitama 53 10 1 9 3 0 0 0 1 16
Chiba 44 15 1 8 4 2 0 0 1 20
Tokyo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tokyo Wards 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kanagawa 48 26 6 8 2 0 0 0 1 14
Niigata 28 2 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 20
Toyama 31 3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4
Ishikawa 30 2 0 2 1 0 1 1 0 4
Fukui 18 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 15
Yamanashi 17 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 16
Nagano 22 3 0 5 6 0 0 0 0 21
Gifu 32 1 0 2 1 3 0 0 0 7
Shizuoka 38 2 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 22
Aichi 58 9 0 5 1 4 0 0 3 22
Mie 21 1 0 2 1 0 0 0 8 15
Shiga 21 2 3 2 2 1 0 0 6 7
Kyoto 28 3 9 5 9 4 0 0 0 2
Osaka 7 1 55 14 1 0 0 0 1
Hyogo 24 4 21 13 2 0 0 0 0 22
Nara 17 2 14 3 1 0 0 0 0 6
Wakayama 27 1 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 6
Tottori 15 7 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 9
Shimane 21 1 0 2 2 1 0 0 0 9
Okayama 32 3 0 6 3 1 0 0 0 10
Hiroshima 29 1 0 6 2 0 0 0 0 26
Yamaguchi 25 0 0 5 3 1 0 0 1 12
Tokushima 21 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 12
Kagawa 25 3 1 2 1 5 0 0 0 4
Ehime 21 2 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 19
Kochi 19 1 0 3 6 0 0 0 0 8
Fukuoka 40 14 3 10 0 1 0 0 1 18
Saga 27 5 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 2
Nagasaki 29 3 0 3 1 3 2 0 0 5
Kumamoto 31 3 1 3 0 0 0 1 1 9
Oita 17 3 1 3 2 1 0 0 0 16
Miyazaki 24 4 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 6
Kagoshima 33 2 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 12
Okinawa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 1153 185 124 169 75 31 3 4 23 493

Source NHK[10] & Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications[1]

Mayors of Designated Cities

Designated city Turnout (%) Party Endorsed by Candidate Votes %
Hamamatsu 49.44 Independent LDP, Komeito Yusuke Nakano 246,745 80.3
Independent JCP Hiroshi Shimada 60,530 19.7
Hiroshima 34.53 Independent LDP, Komeito Kazumi Matsui 258,336 80.0
Communist Party Atsumi Takami 36,595 11.3
Independent Hiroshi Oyama 28,186 8.7
Osaka 48.33 Osaka Ishin no Kai Hideyuki Yokoyama 655,802 64.6
Independent Taeko Kitano 268,227 26.4
Independent Toshihiko Yamazaki 45,369 4.5
Independent Yasuhiko Aramaki 30,960 3.0
Independent Nepentha 15,408 1.5
Sagamihara 45.55 Independent Kentaro Motomura 196,213 74.4
Independent JCP Yumiko Tatebe 18,731 17.1
Independent Kota Numakura 17,844 6.8
Independent Hiroyuki Nomoto 17,557 6.7
Association for Creating the

Future of Sagamihara

Toshiko Takeshima 13,505 5.1
Sapporo 50.99 Independent CDP, Daiichi Katsuhiro Akimoto 458,221 56.0
Independent Kaoru Takano 234,834 28.7
Independent JCP Hideo Kibata 124,692 15.2
Shizuoka 45.61 Independent LDP, CDP, Komeito, DPFP Takashi Nanba 149,117 58.0
Independent Makoto Yamada 80,829 31.4
Communist Party Chika Suzuki 27,197 10.6
Source: NHK

Designated city assemblies

LDP=Liberal Democratic Party CDP=Constitutional Democratic Party JCP=Japan Communist Party *NIK=Nippon Ishin no Kai (also refers to Osaka Ishin no Kai) DPFP=Democratic Party for the People SDP=Social Democratic Party

Designated city Total
seats 		Seats won
LDP Komeito CDP JCP *NIK DPFP SDP Sanseitō Others Ind.
Chiba 50 14 8 8 7 4 1 8
Fukuoka 62 19 12 7 4 7 1 1 1 10
Hamamatsu 46 7 5 1 3 30
Hiroshima 54 17 8 6 3 2 18
Kawasaki 60 17 11 12 8 7 1 4
Kobe 65 17 12 5 9 15 1 2 4
Kumamoto 48 21 7 3 2 1 1 2 11
Kyoto 67 19 11 2 14 10 3 5 3
Nagoya 68 20 12 13 3 1 4 14 1
Niigata 50 15 4 4 6 2 1 1 17
Okayama 46 17 8 3 4 1 13
Osaka 81 11 18 2 46 4
Sagamihara 46 12 8 8 2 4 2 10
Saitama 60 19 11 12 6 4 1 1 6
Sakai 48 7 11 1 5 18 6
Sapporo 68 26 10 18 7 5 1 1
Yokohama 86 34 15 15 5 8 3 6
Total 1,005 292 171 112 93 136 14 4 3 28 152
Source: Asahi Shimbun

Stage II: 23 April

After the elections on 23 April the make up of prefectures, cities, Tokyo special wards, towns, and villages which held elections during the first and second stages, look like this[1][5]

RACE LDP CDP Ishin Komeito JCP DPFP Reiwa SDP 48 Sansei Other Ind. Totals
Governorship 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 9
Prefectural Assembly 1153 185 128 169 75 31 0 3 0 4 23 493 2264
City/Ward Mayor 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 95 99
Town/Village Head 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 124 125
City/Ward Council 1226 463 273 1206 747 101 39 31 1 83 334 3949 8453
Town/Village Council 31 23 17 168 255 6 0 4 0 13 30 3554 4101
Totals 2410 671 366 1543 1077 138 39 38 1 100 442 8222 15047

Voter Turnout

Source:[5]

Elections in both town and villages, and cities recorded record low turnouts.

Cities: 63 mayoral races/47.73%, 280 city council elections/44.26%

Towns/Villages: 55 mayoral (heads) races/60.79%, 250 council elections/55.49%.

Aftermath and reactions

Anticipation began to grow that, banking on the success of the local elections, Prime Minister Kishida may call a snap general election.[2]

LDP election Chief Hiroshi Moriyama was quoted as saying, "People have recognized our achievements."[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "総務省｜第20回統一地方選挙 発表資料". 総務省 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Japan ruling party triumphs in local elections despite criticism over links to Moonies | Japan". The Guardian. 2018-01-31. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  3. ^ Updated on April 10, 2023 05:17 JST. "Japan Innovation wins big in local elections, set to redraw opposition - Nikkei Asia". Asia.nikkei.com. Retrieved 2023-04-10.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b Bosack, Michael MacArthur (2023-04-25). "Japan's political landscape after the unified elections". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  5. ^ a b c 日本放送協会 (26 April 2023). "統一地方選 市町村議選・町村長選の投票率 過去最低 | NHK". NHKニュース. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  6. ^ Walter SimJapan Correspondent (2023-03-23). "Japan PM Kishida's ruling party scores big wins in local election contests". The Straits Times. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  7. ^ "Japan has a candidate shortage for local elections on Sunday - Nikkei Asia". Asia.nikkei.com. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  8. ^ "2023年 選挙スケジュール ｜ 選挙ドットコム". 選挙ドットコム (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  9. ^ Johnston, Eric (1970-01-01). "Nippon Ishin candidates win big in Kansai region local elections". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
  10. ^ 日本放送協会. "統一地方選挙2023 衆参補欠選挙 ｜NHK選挙WEB". www.nhk.or.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-05-01.
  11. ^ Updated on April 10, 2023 05:17 JST. "Japan Innovation wins big in local elections, set to redraw opposition - Nikkei Asia". Asia.nikkei.com. Retrieved 2023-04-10.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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