Okayama 4th District
Parliamentary constituency
for the Japanese House of Representatives
Numbered map of Okayama Prefecture
single-member districts
PrefectureOkayama
Proportional DistrictChūgoku
Electorate405,558 (2022)
Current constituency
Created1996
PartyLDP
RepresentativeGaku Hashimoto

Okayama 4th district is a single-member electoral district for the House of Representatives, the lower house of the national Diet of Japan. It is located in central coastal Okayama and covers the city of Kurashiki and the town of Hayashima. As of September 2012, 367,702 eligible voters were registered in the district, giving it slightly below average vote weight.[1]

The first representative for Okayama 4th district was Liberal Democrat Ryūtarō Hashimoto who had represented the five-member 2nd district before the electoral reform, as had his father Ryōgo before him. Hashimoto, hit by a scandal over political donations from the Japanese Dentists' Federation in 2004, retired from politics in the 2005 general election. His son Gaku tried to "inherit" the seat, but lost to Democrat Michiyoshi Yunoki by a margin of about 6,000 votes. Hashimoto won a seat in the Chūgoku proportional representation block. In his second attempt in the 2009 general election, he lost to Yunoki by an even wider margin (sekihairitsu 72.4) and also failed to win a proportional seat. In his third attempt in the landslide election of 2012, Hashimoto won the district.

List of representatives

Representative Party Dates Notes
Ryūtarō Hashimoto Liberal Democratic 1996–2005 Retired from politics
Michiyoshi Yunoki Democratic 2005–2012 Re-elected to a proportional seat in the Chūgoku block
Gaku Hashimoto Liberal Democratic 2012– Incumbent

Recent election results

2021[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democratic Gaku Hashimoto 89,052 49.7 Decrease2.3
CDP Michiyoshi Yunoki (won PR seat) 83,859 46.8 Increase5.0
Independent Tomoharu Nakagawa 6,146 3.4
Turnout 48.04 Decrease0.07
Liberal Democratic hold
2017[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democratic Gaku Hashimoto 93,172 51.95 Increase0.33
Kibō no Tō Michiyoshi Yunoki (won PR seat) 72,280 40.30 Decrease1.52
Communist Akinari Hirabayashi 13,907 7.75 Increase0.18
Turnout 48.11 Increase1.80
Liberal Democratic hold Swing Increase0.9
2014[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democratic Gaku Hashimoto 91,189 50.62 Increase4.20
Democratic Michiyoshi Yunoki (won PR seat) 75,338 41.82 Increase9.80
Communist Yūichi Kakiuchi 13,629 7.57 Increase1.90
Liberal Democratic hold Swing Decrease2.8
2012[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democratic (Komeito) Gaku Hashimoto 91,155 46.4
Democratic (People's New) Michiyoshi Yunoki (won PR seat) 64,293 32.7
Restoration Masaharu Akazawa 29,798 15.2
Communist Nobuko Sumasu 11,125 5.7
2009[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic (People's New) Michiyoshi Yunoki 134,319 57.0
Liberal Democratic (Komeito) Gaku Hashimoto 97,284 41.3
Happiness Realization Miyuka Koiwai 3,929 1.7
Turnout 240,713 66.1
2005[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Michiyoshi Yunoki 102,370 47.4
Liberal Democratic Gaku Hashimoto (elected by PR) 96,356 44.6
Communist Tsuyoshi Azuma 17,094 7.9
Turnout 223,514 62.4
2003[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democratic Ryūtarō Hashimoto 104,653 56.5
Democratic Michiyoshi Yunoki 66,199 35.7
Communist Tsuyoshi Azuma 14,367 7.8
Turnout 192,293 54.3

References

  1. ^ 平成24年9月2日現在選挙人名簿及び在外選挙人名簿登録者数 [September 2, 2012 Current number of registrants on the electoral list and overseas electoral list] (in Japanese). Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
  2. ^ 小選挙区 岡山 4区 (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
  3. ^ 2017年10月、開票速報終了時点のデータ 岡山４区 [October 2017, data as of the end of preliminary election counting Okayama 4 wards] (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  4. ^ 2014衆院選 2014年12月14日(日) 投票 岡山４区 [2014 House of Representatives Election December 14, 2014 (Sunday) Okayama 4th Ward] (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. ^ 開票結果 小選挙区 岡山 [Election Results Single-seat constituency Okayama]. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  6. ^ 第45回衆議院議員選挙 - 岡山4区 [45th House of Representatives Election - Okayama District 4]. go2senkyo.com (in Japanese). K.K. VoiceJapan. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  7. ^ 第44回衆議院議員選挙 - 岡山4区 [44th House of Representatives Election - Okayama District 4]. go2senkyo.com (in Japanese). K.K. VoiceJapan. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
  8. ^ 第43回衆議院議員選挙 - 岡山4区 [43rd House of Representatives Election - Okayama District 4]. go2senkyo.com (in Japanese). K.K. VoiceJapan. Retrieved 2012-02-08.

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