1890 Japanese general election
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General elections were held in Japan for the first time on 1 July 1890. Voters elected 300 members of the House of Representatives of the Diet of Japan in what was the first example of a popularly elected national assembly in Asia (as the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies was elected indirectly).[1]
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1 July 1890
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All 300 seats in the House of Representatives 151 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
The elections for the lower house of the Diet were held in accordance with provisions of the new Meiji Constitution, which had been promulgated in 1889.[2]
The elections had limited suffrage, with only male citizens 25 years of age and over, who had paid 15 Japanese Yen or more in national taxes, and who had been resident in their prefecture for at least a year, qualified to vote. The number of eligible voters who met this requirement was 450,872 people out of a total Japanese population of 39,933,478 (1.13%). The high tax requirement meant that voter roles were heavily weighed towards rural landlords and urban entrepreneurs. In terms of social class, 91% were commoners, and 9% were ex-samurai.[3] Residents of the prefectures in HonshÅ«, KyÅ«shÅ« and Shikoku participated; residents in HokkaidÅ and Okinawa (as âterritoriesâ) were excluded from this election. About 95% of those eligible to vote actually cast ballots, although there was no penalty for not doing so.[4]
Only male citizens 30 years of age and over, who were not members of the kazoku peerage or of the imperial family or its branches were allowed to become candidates for office in the lower house. The number of seats in the lower house was 300, divided into 214 single-seat districts and 43 two-seat districts, which were contested by 1,243 candidates. The election went smoothly and without violence reported.[5]
Results
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | |
| Liberal Party | 130 | |||
| Taiseikai | 79 | |||
| Rikken KaishintÅ | 41 | |||
| Kokumin JiyutÅ | 5 | |||
| Independents | 45 | |||
| Total | 300 | |||
| Total votes | 422,594 | â | ||
| Registered voters/turnout | 450,872 | 93.73 | ||
| Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan[6] | ||||
Post-election composition by prefecture
| Prefecture | Total seats |
Seats won | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Taiseikai | Rikken KaishintÅ | Kokumin JiyutÅ | Ind. | ||
| Aichi | 11 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Akita | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aomori | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chiba | 9 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Ehime | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Fukui | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fukuoka | 9 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Fukushima | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gifu | 7 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gunma | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hiroshima | 10 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| HyÅgo | 12 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Ibaraki | 8 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Ishikawa | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Iwate | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kagawa | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kagoshima | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kanagawa | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| KÅchi | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kumamoto | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Kyoto | 7 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mie | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Miyagi | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Miyazaki | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nagano | 8 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nagasaki | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nara | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Niigata | 13 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Åita | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Okayama | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Osaka | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Saga | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Saitama | 8 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Shiga | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shimane | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Shizuoka | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tochigi | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tokushima | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Tokyo | 12 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Tottori | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Toyama | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Wakayama | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Yamagata | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Yamaguchi | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Yamanashi | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 300 | 127 | 78 | 44 | 5 | 46 |
| Note: Party affiliation after the general election. | ||||||
Aftermath
In August, all progressive parties (mintÅ) that won seats(KaishintÅ, KyÅ«shÅ« DÅshikai, DaidÅ Club, JiyutÅ and Aikoku KÅtÅ) tried to negotiate a merge, but KaishintÅ withdrew after DaidÅ Club, JiyÅ«tÅ and Aikoku KÅtÅ voiced against its participation. The 4 remaining parties then merged to form the Rikken JiyutÅ, which in turn formed a parliamentary bloc called Yayoi Club (lit.â'March Club'). KaishintÅ formed its own parliamentary bloc Giin ShÅ«kaisho (lit.â'Assembly of Deputies') as well. On the other hand, a group of 79 deputies who called for political neutrality formed Taiseikai (lit.â'Catch-all Bloc') in August, and 5 nationalist-liberal deputies formed Kokumin JiyutÅ (lit.â'National Liberal Party') in December, a few days after the first session summoned.
Parliamentary bloc members
| Session | Yayoi Club | Giin Shūkaisho | Taiseikai | Kokumin JiyutŠ| Jiyu Club | Tomoe Club | Dokuritsu Club | Non-Affiliated | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st 29 November 1890 - 7 March 1891 | 130 | 40 | 79 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 296 |
| 2nd 26 November - 25 December 1891 |  92 |  44 | 52 | 0 | 25 | 17 | 19 | 51 |
300 |