1993 Japanese general election

1993 Japanese general election

← 1990 18 July 1993 1996 →
All 511 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan 256 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	66.99% (6.32pp)
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Kiichi Miyazawa Sadao Yamahana Tsutomu Hata Party Liberal Democratic Socialist Shinseito Last election 275 seats, 46.14% 136 seats, 24.35% – Seats won 223 70 55 Seat change 52 66 New Popular vote 22,999,646 9,687,588 6,341,364 Percentage 36.62% 15.43% 10.10% Swing 9.49pp 8.96pp New   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Koshiro Ishida Morihiro Hosokawa Tetsuzo Fuwa Party Kōmeitō New Party Communist Last election 45 seats, 7.98% – 16 seats, 7.96% Seats won 51 35 15 Seat change 6 New 1 Popular vote 5,114,351 5,053,981 4,834,587 Percentage 8.14% 8.05% 7.70% Swing 0.16pp New 0.26pp   Seventh party Eighth party Ninth party   Leader Keigo Ōuchi Masayoshi Takemura Satsuki Eda Party Democratic Socialist New Party Sakigake Socialist Democratic Last election 14 seats, 4.84% – 4 seats, 0.86% Seats won 15 13 4 Seat change 1 New Popular vote 2,205,682 1,658,097 461,169 Percentage 3.51% 2.64% 0.73% Swing 1.33pp New 0.13pp
Prime Minister before election Kiichi Miyazawa Liberal Democratic Prime Minister after election Morihiro Hosokawa New Party

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General elections were held in Japan on 18 July 1993 to elect the 511 members of the House of Representatives. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had been in power since 1955, lost their majority in the House. An eight-party coalition government was formed and headed by Morihiro Hosokawa, the leader of the Japan New Party (JNP). The election result was profoundly important to Japan's domestic and foreign affairs.

It marked the first time under the 1955 System that the ruling coalition had been defeated, being replaced by a coalition of liberals, centrists and reformists. The change in government also marked a change in generational politics and political conduct; the election was widely seen as a backlash against corruption, pork-barrel spending and an inflated bureaucracy. Proposed electoral reforms also held much influence over the election.^[1] Eleven months after the election, with the electoral reform legislation that was its raison d'etre passed, the eight-party coalition collapsed.^[2] These were the last general elections to use the single non-transferable vote electoral system, with the 1994 electoral reform efforts changing the system to parallel voting starting with the next elections.