Tokyo: A total of 965 people are preparing to run in Japan’s next House of Representatives general election, according to a Jiji Press tally.

With one year and 10 months left until the term of the current members of the lower chamber of parliament expires, the focus is when the election will be held, especially as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida does not have a free hand to call a snap poll given his cabinet’s low approval ratings.

The upcoming election will be the first to be held under the Lower House single-seat constituency map redrawn to narrow vote-value disparities by reducing one seat each in 10 prefectures and redistributing the 10 seats to five other prefectures.

The total number of Lower House seats is 465, of which 289 are allocated to single-seat constituencies and 176 are proportional representation seats.

As of Friday, a total of 886 people were preparing candidacies for single-seat constituencies, with some set to run also for proportional representation seats, while 79 people were preparing to run solely as proportional representation candidates.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party has chosen its candidates for 274 single-seat districts. Excluding the 11 districts where the LDP’s junior coalition partner, Komeito, will field its own candidates, the LDP has yet to secure candidates in four constituencies.

The vacant districts include Tokyo’s No. 15 constituency, where the incumbent left the LDP following allegations of election law violations during the Koto Ward mayoral election in the Japanese capital.

The other three are the Osaka No. 18 and Fukuoka No. 9 constituencies plus the Shimane No. 1 district, previously represented by former Lower House Speaker Hiroyuki Hosoda, who died in November 2023.

The number of Komeito candidates for single-seat districts will rise from nine in the 2021 general election, thanks to the addition of candidates for the Saitama No. 14 and Aichi No. 16 districts.

The party plans to have 28 candidates solely for proportional representation. Some in Komeito have called for allowing candidates in single-seat districts to stand for proportional representation seats as well, as the party will no longer avoid competition with the opposition Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Innovation Party) in constituencies in the Kansai western region.

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan has secured 170 candidates, with 169 for single-seat districts and one solely for proportional representation. CDP President Kenta Izumi, who has pledged to step down if the party cannot win at least 150 seats at the next election, aims to increase candidates amid a political funds scandal rocking the LDP.

The Japanese Communist Party has secured 148 candidates, namely 129 for single-seat districts and 19 solely for proportional representation. It is looking to avoid running candidates in the same districts as the CDP, although there are 63 such constituencies at the moment.

Nippon Ishin, seeking to overtake the CDP as the biggest opposition party, has candidates for 152 single-seat districts. It hopes to find candidates for all 289 districts, but efforts have slowed outside the Kansai region.

The Democratic Party for the People has picked 27 candidates, while Sanseito has secured 94. Other parties including Reiwa Shinsengumi and the Social Democratic Party are also preparing to decide candidates.

Incumbents not affiliated with any party are also expected to throw their hat in the ring.

JIJI Press