General elections were held in Japan on 20 April 1917.Thomas T Mackie & Richard Rose (1991) ''The International Almanac of Electoral History'', Macmillan, p281 The

Rikken Seiyūkai The was one of the main political parties in the pre-war Empire of Japan. It was also known simply as the ''Seiyūkai''. Founded on September 15, 1900, by Itō Hirobumi,David S. Spencer, "Some Thoughts on the Political Development of the Japan ...

party led by

Hara Takashi was a Japanese politician who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1918 to 1921. Hara held several minor ambassadorial roles before rising through the ranks of the Rikken Seiyūkai and being elected to the House of Representatives. Ha ...

emerged as the largest party in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, winning 165 of the 381 seats.

Electoral system

The 381 members of the House of Representatives were elected in 51 multi-member constituencies based on

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

and cities. Voting was restricted to men aged over 25 who paid at least 10 yen a year in direct taxation.Mackie & Rose, p276

Results

References

{{Japanese elections General elections in Japan Japan 1917 elections in Japan April 1917 events Election and referendum articles with incomplete results