Shimane 1st district is a constituency of the

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

in the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

History

Since the introduction of the

Single-member district A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

to Japan beginning in 1994,

Hiroyuki Hosoda was a Japanese politician who served as the speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan from November 2021 to October 2023. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1990, and served as Chief Cabinet Secretary in Junichiro Koi ...

of the

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

has been elected continuously, backed by the solid foundation of support the Hosoda family has built in Shimane, starting with Hiroyuki Hosoda's father, . Shimane also serves as a conservative kingdom for the LDP. Hiroyuki was extremely knowledgeable in elections;

Noboru Takeshita was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1987 to 1989. Born in Shimane Prefecture, Takeshita attended Waseda University and was drafted into the army during the Pacific War. He was first elected to the National Diet ...

praised him as "the most knowledgeable about politics outside of myself". In 2005, Hosoda became Chief Cabinet Secretary, and has additionally held the roles of

Secretary-General of the Liberal Democratic Party The is a high-ranking position within the Japanese conservative party, the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party. According to the LDP constitution, the secretary-general assists the President of the Liberal Democratic Part ...

and Party Chairman of General Affairs. Due to this, Hosoda himself rarely returned to campaign in the district, but usually won by hefty margins, with no other candidates even winning a spot in the overall

Chūgoku proportional representation block The Chūgoku proportional representation block (比例中国ブロック) is one of eleven proportional representation (PR) "blocks", multi-member constituencies for the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It consists of the prefecture ...

(outside of the

2009 Japanese general election General elections were held in Japan on August 30, 2009 to elect the 480 members of the House of Representatives. The opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) defeated the ruling coalition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and New Komeito Party ...

, where Toshiaki Komuro managed to win a spot. He lost it in the

2012 Japanese general election General elections were held in Japan on 16 December 2012. Voters gave the Liberal Democratic Party a landslide victory, ejecting the Democratic Party from power after three years. It was the fourth worst defeat suffered by a ruling party in J ...

). The death of the Takeshita brothers (Noboru, along with

Wataru Takeshita was a Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives in the Diet (national legislature) as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. A native of Kakeya, Shimane and graduate of Keio University he was elected for the first time ...

) has strained LDP influence in the prefecture. Additionally, Hiroyuki Hosoda himself died in October 2023. Prior to this, Hosoda's margin of victory had been halved; prior to 2017, he had won by nearly thirty points in every election. In the

2017 Japanese general election General elections were held in Japan on 22 October 2017. Voting took place in all Representatives constituencies of Japan – 289 single-member districts and eleven proportional blocks – in order to appoint all 465 members (down from 475) of t ...

, this was cut down to twenty, and

Akiko Kamei is a Japanese politician of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and a member of the House of Representatives. She is a former member of People's New Party and of the House of Councillors. A native of Tokyo and graduate of Gakushuin Un ...

became the first opposition politician since 2009 to return on a proportional block. Despite her losing the proportional seat in the

2021 Japanese general election General elections were held in Japan on 31 October 2021, as required by the Constitution of Japan, constitution. Voting took place in all List of districts of the House of Representatives of Japan, constituencies in order to elect List of member ...

, Hosoda's margin of victory had been cut down to a further fifteen points. With Hosoda's death and extreme unpopularity relating to his sexual harassment scandals and ties to the

Unification Church The Unification Church () is a new religious movement, whose members are called Unificationists or sometimes informally Moonies. It was founded in 1954 by Sun Myung Moon in Seoul, South Korea, as the Holy Spirit Association for the Unificatio ...

, the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

due to occur in April 2024, were projected to be unusually close. The opposition unified around

, who won with a clear majority, marking the first time an opposition delegate had ever been elected from Shimane since the introduction of FPTP seats.

Areas Covered

Matsue is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Shimane Prefecture, Japan, located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. , the city had an estimated population of 196,748 in 91287 households and a population density of 340 persons per km². The total area of ...

Yasugi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 35,965 in 14257 households and a population density of 85 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Yasugi is located ...

* Unnan * Nita District * Iishi District * Oki District Additionally, the

Liancourt Rocks The Liancourt Rocks, known in Korea as Dokdo () and in Japan as Takeshima (), are a group of islets in the Sea of Japan between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago administered by South Korea. The Liancourt Rocks comprise two ...

are included in the district.

List of representatives

Election results

Notes

References

{{coord missing, Shimane Prefecture Districts of the House of Representatives (Japan) Politics of Shimane Prefecture Matsue, Shimane Constituencies established in 1994 1994 establishments in Japan