The Kochi at-large district (Japanese: 高知県選挙区, Hepburn: Kōchi-ken Senkyoku) was a constituency that represents Kōchi Prefecture in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. Councillors are elected to the house by single non-transferable vote (SNTV) for six-year terms. Since the establishment of the current House of Councillors electoral system in 1947, the district has elected two Councillors, one each at elections held every three years. With its 618,834 registered voters (as of September 2015)[1] it is the third-smallest electoral district for the house. To address the imbalance in representation between districts, a 2015 revision of the Public Officers Election Law will see the district merged with the Tokushima At-large district to create the Tokushima-Kochi At-large district;[2] this change will begin to take effect at the 2016 election, at which one Councillor will be elected.
The Councillors currently representing Kochi are:
- Hajime Hirota (Democratic Party of Japan; term ends in 2016)
- Kojiro Takano (Liberal Democratic Party; term ends in 2019)
Elected Councillors
| class of 1947 | election year | class of 1950 |
|---|---|---|
| (1947: 6-year term) | (1947: 3-year term) | |
| Kameshichi Nishiyama (Liberal) |
1947 | Tazō Irimajiri (Democratic) |
| 1950 | Tazō Irimajiri (Liberal) | |
| Yutaka Terao (Liberal) |
1953 | |
| 1956 | Akira Sakamoto (Social Democratic) | |
| Yutaka Terao (LDP) |
1959 | |
| 1962 | Shunji Shiomi (LDP) | |
| 1965 | ||
| 1968 | ||
| Takao Hamada (LDP)[notes 1] |
1971 | |
| Yu Hayashi (LDP) |
1974 by-election | |
| 1974 | ||
| 1977 | ||
| 1980 | Kanzo Tanigawa (LDP) | |
| 1983 | ||
| 1986 | ||
| Ruriko Nishioka (Social Democratic) |
1989 | |
| 1992 | Sadao Hirano (Ind.) | |
| Kohei Tamura (Ind.) |
1995 | |
| 1998 | Hiroyuki Morishita (LDP) | |
| 2001 | ||
| 2004[3] | Hajime Hirota (Ind.)[notes 2] | |
| Norio Takeuchi (DPJ) |
2007[4] | |
| 2010[5] | Hajime Hirota (DPJ) | |
| Kojiro Takano (LDP) |
2013[6] | |
| 2016 | Seat abolished | |
| Seat abolished | 2019 |
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democratic | Kojiro Takano (endorsed by Komeito) |
159,709 | 52.9 | ||
| Communist | Yuriko Hamakawa | 72,939 | 24.1 | ||
| Democratic | Norio Takeuchi | 65,236 | 21.6 | ||
| Happiness Realization | Tsuyoshi Hashizume | 4,268 | 1.4 | ||
| Turnout | 49.89 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Hajime Hirota (Endorsed by People's New Party) |
137,306 | 37.5 | ||
| Liberal Democratic | Kojiro Takano | 123,898 | 33.8 | ||
| Independent | Kohei Tamura | 56,977 | 15.6 | ||
| Communist | Naoaki Haruna | 38,998 | 10.7 | ||
| Independent | Toshihisa Fujishima | 8,899 | 2.4 | ||
| Turnout | 58.49 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Norio Takeuchi | 166,220 | 44.7 | ||
| Liberal Democratic | Kohei Tamura (endorsed by Komeito) |
154,104 | 41.4 | ||
| Communist | Nobuo Murakami | 51,629 | 13.9 | ||
| Turnout | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Hajime Hirota (Endorsed by DPJ) |
159,178 | 43.6 | ||
| Liberal Democratic | Hiroyuki Morishita (Endorsed by Komeito) |
130,544 | 35.7 | ||
| Communist | Sachi Nakane | 52,169 | 14.3 | ||
| Independent | Yumiko Matsuoka (Endorsed by SDP) |
23,441 | 6.4 | ||
| Turnout | |||||
References
- "List of Former Councillors (A to Sa)" (in Japanese). House of Councillors. 2007. Archived from the original on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- "List of Former Councillors (Ta to Ha)" (in Japanese). House of Councillors. 2007. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- "List of Former Councillors (Ma to Wa)" (in Japanese). House of Councillors. 2007. Archived from the original on 3 September 2009. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
Footnotes
- ↑ "平成２７年９月２日（定時登録日）現在における選挙人名簿 登録者数の概要" [2 September 2015 (Periodic Registration Day) Current enrolled voters - Overview of number of registered voters] (in Japanese). 2 September 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- ↑ "Upper House districts set for shake-up after electoral reform laws pass Diet". Japan Times. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- 1 2 "選挙区開票結果 <高知県>" [District election results (Kochi)] (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- 1 2 "選挙区 高知県 開票結果 参院選2007" [Kochi At-large district election results, 2007 House of Councillors election]. Yomiuri Shimbun. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
- 1 2 "選挙区 高知 選挙結果 参議院選挙（参院選）2010" [Kochi At-large district election results, 2010 House of Councillors election]. Yomiuri Shimbun. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
- 1 2 "選挙区 高知 選挙結果 参議院選挙（参院選）2013" [Kochi At-large district election results, 2013 House of Councillors election]. Yomiuri Shimbun. Retrieved 22 February 2016.