'General elections were held in
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
on 20 November 1960.
Dieter Nohlen
Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...
, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p363 The result was a victory for the
Liberal Democratic Party, which won 296 of the 467 seats. Voter turnout was 73.5%, the lowest since the
1947 general elections.
Background
The elections came near the end of a turbulent year marked by
violent labour disputes at Mitsui Miike Coal Mine, the
"May 19th Incident" in which
Nobusuke Kishi
was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. He is remembered for his exploitative economic management of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in China in the 1930s, ...
and LDP lawmakers in the Diet forced the revised
US-Japan Security Treaty through parliament (causing an upsurge in the
Anpo protests), and the assassination of
Japan Socialist Party (JSP) leader
Inejirō Asanuma
was a Japanese politician and leader of the Japan Socialist Party. During World War II, Asanuma was aligned with the Imperial Rule Assistance Association and advocated for Pacific War, war in Asia. Asanuma later became a forceful advocate of s ...
by ''
wakizashi
The is one of the traditionally made Japanese swords ('' nihontō'') worn by the samurai in feudal Japan. Its name refers to the practice of wearing it inserted through one's ''obi'' or sash at one's side, whereas the larger '' tachi'' sword wa ...
''-wielding right-wing youth named
Otoya Yamaguchi
was a Japanese right-wing Ultranationalism (Japan), ultranationalist youth who assassinated Inejirō Asanuma, chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, on 12 October 1960. Yamaguchi rushed the stage and stabbed Asanuma with a wakizashi-like shor ...
. Prior to the elections there were a number of left-wing street protests and right-wing vigilante actions.
Campaign
As public antipathy was largely towards Kishi and his cabinet, rather than flagship LDP policies, the election was not a setback for the party. Kishi's successor,
Hayato Ikeda, was popular for his moderate attitude and public image as a practical finance minister, and LDP candidates focused heavily on issues such as maintaining
already-strong economic growth. Ikeda made a splash with his promise to double the national income in ten years, known as the "
Income Doubling Plan," which also promised economic benefits such as tax cuts to small businesses, farmers, and consumers.
The LDP also benefitted from factionalism in the JSP, as the more moderate and
anti-communist
Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...
Democratic Socialist Party seceded from the JSP at the beginning of the year, leading to a
spoiler effect
In social choice theory and politics, a spoiler effect happens when a losing candidate affects the results of an election simply by participating. Voting rules that are not affected by spoilers are said to be spoilerproof.
The frequency and se ...
.
Results
Although the LDP saw a small reduction in its vote share compared to the
1958 elections and the JSP and DSP collectively received around 1.3 million more votes than the united JSP did in the 1958 elections, the LDP gained nine seats, while the JSP and DSP lost a net four seats.
By prefecture
References
{{Japanese elections
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
General elections in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results