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1949 Japanese general election

← 1947 23 January 1949 1952 →
All 466 seats in the House of Representatives 234 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	74.04% (6.09pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Shigeru Yoshida Takeru Inukai Tetsu Katayama Party Democratic Liberal Democratic Socialist Last election – 25.44%, 124 seats 26.23%, 143 seats Seats won 264 70 48 Seat change New 54 95 Popular vote 13,420,269 4,798,352 4,129,794 Percentage 43.87% 15.68% 13.50% Swing New 9.76pp 12.73pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Kyuichi Tokuda Takeo Miki Hisao Kuroda Party JCP National Cooperative Labourers and Farmers Last election 3.67%, 4 seats 7.00%, 31 seats – Seats won 35 14 7 Seat change 31 17 New Popular vote 2,984,780 1,041,879 606,840 Percentage 9.76% 3.41% 1.98% Swing 6.09pp 3.59pp New
Districts shaded according to winners' vote strength
Prime Minister before election Shigeru Yoshida Democratic Liberal Elected Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida Democratic Liberal

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v t e

General elections were held in Japan on 23 January 1949. The result was a landslide victory for the Democratic Liberal Party, which won 269 of the 466 seats. Voter turnout was 74.0%. It was the first election held following the enactment of the current Constitution of Japan.

Future prime ministers Hayato Ikeda and Eisaku Satō and future Foreign Minister and Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsuo Okazaki were first elected in this election.

The second cabinet of Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida was formed following the election.

The Japanese Communist Party's best prefecture performance was 20.07% in Osaka and its worst was 2.63% in Kagoshima. This was the best performance of the JCP until the 1972 election.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Democratic Liberal Party	13,420,269	43.87	264	New
	Democratic Party	4,798,352	15.68	69	–55
	Japan Socialist Party	4,129,794	13.50	48	–95
	Japanese Communist Party	2,984,780	9.76	35	+31
	National Cooperative Party	1,041,879	3.41	14	–17
	Labourers and Farmers Party	606,840	1.98	7	New
	Other parties	1,602,496	5.24	17	–
	Independents	2,008,109	6.56	12	0
Total		30,592,519	100.00	466	–2
Valid votes		30,592,519	98.13
Invalid/blank votes		582,438	1.87
Total votes		31,174,957	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		42,105,300	74.04
Source: Oscarsson, Nohlen et al.

By prefecture

References

1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p381 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
2. Scalapino 1967, pp. 317–318.
3. Cole, Totten & Uyehara 1966, pp. 25.

Works cited

• Cole, Allan; Totten, George; Uyehara, Cecil (1966). Socialist Parties In Postwar Japan. Yale University Press.
• Scalapino, Robert (1967). The Japanese Communist Movement, 1920-1966. University of California Press.

v t e Elections in Japan
General elections	1890 1892 1894 (Mar) 1894 (Sep) 1898 (Mar) 1898 (Aug) 1902 1903 1904 1908 1912 1915 1917 1920 1924 1928 1930 1932 1936 1937 1942 1946 1947 1949 1952 1953 1955 1958 1960 1963 1967 1969 1972 1976 1979 1980 1983 1986 1990 1993 1996 2000 2003 2005 2009 2012 2014 2017 2021 2024 Next
Councillors elections	1947 1950 1953 1956 1959 1962 1965 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004 2007 2010 2013 2016 2019 2022 2025
Unified local elections	1947 1951 1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
Supreme Court retention elections	1949 1952 1955 1958 1960 1963 1967 1969 1972 1976 1979 1980 1983 1986 1990 1993 1996 2000 2003 2005 2009 2012 2014 2017 2021 2024
See also: Gubernatorial elections Prefectural Assembly elections

• 1949 elections in Asia
• 1949 elections in Japan
• General elections in Japan
• January 1949 events in Asia