1960 Japanese general election

1960 Japanese general election

20 November 1960
All 467 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan 234 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	73.5% ( 3.5%)
First party Second party   Leader Hayato Ikeda Saburō Eda Party Liberal Democratic Socialist Seats won 296 145 Seat change 9 21 Popular vote 22,740,272 10,887,134 Percentage 57.6% 27.6% Swing 0.2pp 5.4pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Suehiro Nishio Kenji Miyamoto Party Democratic Socialist Communist Seats won 17 3 Seat change New 2 Popular vote 3,464,148 1,156,723 Percentage 8.8% 2.9% Swing New 0.4pp
Prime Minister before election Hayato Ikeda Liberal Democratic Prime Minister-designate Hayato Ikeda Liberal Democratic

General elections were held in Japan on 20 November 1960. The result was a victory for the Liberal Democratic Party, which won 296 of the 467 seats. Voter turnout was 73.5%.

The 1960 general election came near the end of what was arguably Japan's ugliest year in post-war political history, being marked by violent labour disputes at Mitsui Miike Coal Mine, the infamous "May 19th Incident" in which Nobusuke Kishi and LDP lawmakers in the diet forced the revised US-Japan Security Treaty through the Diet and cause the ongoing Anpo protests to reach a terrifying apex, and finally the dramatic assassination of Japan Socialist Party's leader Inejirō Asanuma at the hands of a wakizashi-wielding right-wing youth named Otoya Yamaguchi. As a result, there was a heavy atmosphere as the election was approaching, and there were a numebr of other left-wing street protests and right-wing vigilante actions.

Nonetheless, this did not swing the election results against the ruling LDP government, as much of the public's antipathy was towards Kishi and his cabinet, not flagship LDP policies of the time. Kishi's successor, Hayato Ikeda, was popular for his moderate attitude and public image as a practical financial minister, and LDP candidates focused heavily on pocket book issues such as maintaining Japan's already-strong economic growth. Ikeda became well known for his promise to double the national income in ten years, and also promised economic benefits such as tax cuts to small businesses, farmers, and consumers. However, another important aspect of the election was that the socialists suffered from factionalism, as the more moderate and anti-communist Democratic Socialist Party seceded from the Japan Socialist Party at the beginning of the year, leading to a local electoral spoiler effect, keeping much-needed votes from the JSP. This is corroborated by the fact that the LDP saw a small reduction in total votes since the previous election of 1958, whereas the JSP and DSP collectively obtained 1,257,289 more votes than the united JSP did in the 1958 election.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Liberal Democratic Party	22,740,272	57.56	296	+9
	Japan Socialist Party	10,887,134	27.56	145	–21
	Democratic Socialist Party	3,464,148	8.77	17	New
	Japanese Communist Party	1,156,723	2.93	3	+2
	Other parties	141,941	0.36	1	–
	Independents	1,118,905	2.83	5	+7
Total		39,509,123	100.00	467	0
Valid votes		39,509,123	98.97
Invalid/blank votes		410,996	1.03
Total votes		39,920,119	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		54,312,993	73.50
Source: Baerwald, Mackie