Shikoku proportional representation block

The Shikoku proportional representation block (Hirei [daihyō] Shikoku burokku (比例[代表]四国ブロック)) is one of eleven proportional representation (PR) "blocks", multi-member constituencies for the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It consists of Shikoku region covering Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime and Kōchi Prefectures. Following the introduction of proportional voting it elected seven representatives in the 1996 general election. When the total number of PR seats was reduced from 200 to 180, the Shikoku PR block shrank to six seats.

Shikoku Proportional Representation Block
Parliamentary constituency for the Japanese House of Representatives
Map of House of Representatives proportional blocks, with the Shikoku block highlighted
Prefectures	Ehime, Kagawa, Kōchi, Tokushima
Population	3,721,000 (October 2019 estimate)[1]
Electorate	3,205,495[2]
Current constituency
Representatives	6 (LDP-3, CDP-1, Ishin-1, Komeito-1)[3]

Summary of results

With a district magnitude of six, Shikoku is the smallest PR block. The vote share necessary to obtain a seat is usually well above ten percent. In three elections after the consolidation of the LDP-DPJ-party system by the merger of the LP into the DPJ in 2001, only the top three parties were able to win seats in Shikoku. In 2012, the LDP recorded its worst result since the introduction of proportional party list voting and the DPJ vote share crashed by more than 25 percentage points, the newly created Japan Restoration Party managed to gain two proportional seats in Shikoku.

General election	LDP			DPJ			Kōmeitō			JCP			SDP			NFP ('96)/LP ('00)			JRP ('12)/JIP ('14)			Others
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
1996	785,589	41.6	3	245,323	13.8	1	–			227,014	12.1	1	132,868	7.1	0	455,269	24.2	2	–			39,067	2.1	0
2000	700,719	36.0	3	402,457	20.7	1	266,791	13.7	1	213,729	11.0	1	196,277	10.1	0	162,700	8.4	0	–			5,316	0.3	0
2003	708,051	38.2	3	587,828	31.7	2	309,160	16.7	1	148,953	8.0	0	98,243	5.3	0	–			–			–
2005	821,746	38.3	3	711,927	33.2	2	317,575	14.8	1	175,994	8.2	0	119,089	5.5	0	–			–			–
2009	719,594	32.0	2	973,038	43.2	3	293,204	13.0	1	150,171	6.7	0	94,558	4.2	0	–			–			19,507	0.9	0
2012	567,193	30.7	2	296,914	16.0	1	276,907	15.0	1	106,976	5.8	0	42,762	2.3	0	–			394,393	21.3	2	165,091	8.8	0
2014	547,185	34.9	3	326,803	20.8	1	247,776	15.8	1	158,848	10.1	0	33,257	2.1	0	–			200,882	12.8	1	55,277	3.1	0

Party names are abbreviated as follows (Romanisation of Japanese name in brackets):

• LDP: Liberal Democratic Party, (Jiyūminshutō)
• DPJ: Democratic Party of Japan (Minshutō)
• Komeito (Kōmeitō)
• JCP: Japanese Communist Party, (Nihon Kyōsantō)
• SDP Social Democratic Party, Shakaiminshutō
• NFP: New Frontier Party, Shinshintō
• LP: Liberal Party, Jiyūtō
• NSP: New Socialist Party, Shin-shakaitō
• LL: Liberal League, Jiyū-rengō
• HRP: Happiness Realization Party, Kōfuku-jitsugen-tō

List of representatives

Note: Party affiliations as of election day.

Years	Elected representatives
1996	Naoaki Haruna	Masanori Gotō	Kazuyoshi Endō	Shōzō Nishimura	Ihei Ochi died 2000, replaced by Akira Shichijō	Mamoru Nishida	Hajime Morita
2000	Naoaki Haruna	Masanori Gotō	Kazuyoshi Endō	Mamoru Nishida	Hajime Morita	Akira Shichijō	–
2003	Miho Takai	Masanori Gotō	Noritoshi Ishida	Hajime Morita	Yoshirō Okamoto	Akira Shichijō
2005	Junya Ogawa	Masanori Gotō resigned 2005, replaced by Miho Takai	Noritoshi Ishida	Akira Shichijō	Yoshirō Okamoto	Katsuko Nishimoto
2009	Hirobumi Niki	Takako Nagae	Hideyuki Takahashi	Noritoshi Ishida	Takuya Hirai	Shun'ichi Yamaguchi
2012	Junya Ogawa	Fumiki Sakurauchi	Arata Nishioka	Noritoshi Ishida	Takakazu Seto	Yasuji Izuhara
2014	Junya Ogawa	Hiroyuki Yokoyama	Noritoshi Ishida	Teru Fukui	Takakazu Seto	Mamoru Fukuyama

Election results

2014 general election

Main article: Results of the 2014 Japanese general election (Shikoku proportional representation block)

Following on from the LDP landslide win at the 2012 general election, in which the party won 12 of the 13 electorates in Shikoku plus two of the six seats from the PR list,^[4] the LDP maintained their dominant position in the region by retaining all 10 of their electorates^[5] (two electorates were abolished to address voter malapportionment) and gaining a seat on the PR list from the dissolved Japan Restoration Party (JRP).

The JRP, which won 2 seats with 21.3% of the vote at the 2012 general election,^[4] had split in May 2014, with former members subsequently forming the Japan Innovation Party and Party for Future Generations. Of the two JRP members previously elected from the Shikoku PR list, Fumiki Sakurauchi [ja] joined the Party for Future Generations and contested the PR block in 2014, while Arata Nishioka [ja] contested the Ehime 2nd district [ja] as an independent; both candidates lost.

Former Ehime Prefectural Assembly [ja] member Hiroyuki Yokoyama [ja]^[6] the Japan Innovation Party's unsuccessful candidate in Ehime 2nd district, gained a seat for the new party, while the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and Komeito representatives were able to retain their seats.^[5]

Elected candidates
Party		Representative	Party rank	Term #
	LDP	Teru Fukui	1	6th
	DPJ	Junya Ogawa	1	4th
	LDP	Mamoru Fukuyama [ja]	2	2nd
	Komeito	Noritoshi Ishida	1	7th
	Innovation	Hiroyuki Yokoyama [ja]	1	1st
	LDP	Takakazu Seto	3	2nd

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Liberal Democratic Party	547,185	34.85	+4.19	3	+1
	Democratic Party of Japan	326,803	20.82	+4.77	1	0
	Komeito	247,776	15.78	+0.81	1	0
	Japan Innovation Party	200,882	12.79	New	1	New
	Japanese Communist Party	158,848	10.12	+4.34	0	0
	Party for Future Generations	44,515	2.84	New	0	New
	Social Democratic Party	33,257	2.12	–0.19	0	0
	Happiness Realization Party	10,762	0.69	+0.25	0	0
Total		1,570,028	100.00	–	6	0
Valid votes		1,570,028	96.92
Invalid/blank votes		49,834	3.08
Total votes		1,619,862	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,259,284	49.70
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications[7][8]

2012 general election

Main article: Results of the 2012 Japanese general election (Shikoku proportional representation block)

Prior to the election, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) held three of the six PR block seats as well as 5 of the 13 small electorates that make up the block. The opposition LDP held 2 of the PR seats and the 8 remaining electorates, while their traditional junior coalition partner Komeito held the final PR seat.

The 2012 general election delivered a landslide victory to the LDP, with 294 of the 480 seats won at the national level. The election decimated the DPJ from a pre-election position of 230 to just 57 seats.^[9] In the Shikoku PR block, the DPJ lost 2 of their seats as their vote was reduced to 16.0%, down from 43.2% in the 2009 election. Junya Ogawa lost his seat in Kagawa 1st district but was the DPJ candidate to suffer the narrowest defeat, so he was able to retain a seta in the house. The newly-formed Japan Restoration Party gained the two seats lost by the DPJ.^[10] In the 13 single-member electorates, the LDP gained 4 seats, with Yuichiro Tamaki being the only DPJ member to retain his seat in the Kagawa 2nd district.^[11]

Elected candidates
Party		Representative	Party rank	Term #
	LDP	Takakazu Seto	1	1st
	Restoration	Fumiki Sakurauchi	1	1st
	DPJ	Junya Ogawa	1	3rd
	LDP	Yasuji Izuhara	14	2nd
	Komeito	Noritoshi Ishida	1	6th
	Restoration	Arata Nishioka	1	1st

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Liberal Democratic Party	567,193	30.66	2	0
	Japan Restoration Party	394,393	21.32	2	New
	Democratic Party of Japan	296,914	16.05	1	–2
	Komeito	276,907	14.97	1	0
	Japanese Communist Party	106,976	5.78	0	0
	Your Party	93,090	5.03	0	New
	Tomorrow Party of Japan	63,830	3.45	0	New
	Social Democratic Party	42,762	2.31	0	0
	Happiness Realization Party	8,171	0.44	0	0
Total		1,850,236	100.00	6	0
Valid votes		1,850,236	96.94
Invalid/blank votes		58,365	3.06
Total votes		1,908,601	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		3,291,313	57.99
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications[12][13]

2009 general election

Shikoku block results in the 2009 general election^[14][15]

LDP: 719,594 votes (32.0%), 2 seats					DPJ: 973,038 votes (43.2%), 3 seats					Kōmeitō: 293,204 votes (13.0%), 1 seat
#	Candidate	District	"Loss ratio" (sekihairitsu)	Elected	#	Candidate	District	"Loss ratio"	Elected	#	Candidate	District	"Loss ratio"	Elected
1	Takuya Hirai	Kagawa 1	83.3%	Elected	1	Hirobumi Niki	Tokushima 3	98.5%	Elected	1	Noritoshi Ishida	PR only		Elected
	Shun'ichi Yamaguchi	Tokushima 2	80.2%	Elected		Takako Nagae	Ehime 1	97.8%	Elected	2	Hidehisa Ochiai			–
	Masazumi Gotōda	Tokushima 3	Won district			Hideyuki Takahashi	Ehime 4	89.7%	Elected	JCP: 150,171 votes (6.7%), no seat
	Yasuhisa Shiozaki	Ehime 1	Won district			Yoshito Sengoku	Tokushima 1	Won district		#	Candidate	District	"Loss ratio"	Elected
	Seiichirō Murakami	Ehime 2	Won district			Miho Takai	Tokushima 2	Won district		1	Masaru Sasaoka	PR only		–
	Kōichi Yamamoto	Ehime 4	Won district			Jun'ya Ogawa	Kagawa 1	Won district		2	Motonori Furuta	Tokushima 1	10.8%	–
	Teru Fukui	Kōchi 1	Won district			Yūichirō Tamaki	Kagawa 2	Won district			Michiko Chikaishi	Kagawa 3	9.9%	–
	Gen Nakatani	Kōchi 2	Won district			Yōichi Shiraishi	Ehime 3	Won district			Katsuhiko Tanaka	Ehime 1	6.1%	–
	Yūji Yamamoto	Kōchi 3	Won district			Tomoi Nakayama	Kōchi 3	86.9%	–	SDP: 94,558 votes (4.2%), no seat
	Tōru Shirai	Ehime 3	77.2%	–		Kumiko Tamura	Kōchi 1	86.4%	–	#	Candidate	District	"Loss ratio"	Elected
	Yoshio Kimura	Kagawa 2	72.3%	–		Kiyo Kusumoto	Kōchi 2	65.9%	–	1	Tomoko Okahira	Ehime 2	89.9%	–
	Yoshirō Okamoto	Tokushima 1	51.8%	–	12	Kenshi Uno	PR only		–		Haruhiko Maida	Kagawa 3	73.3%	–
13	Akira Shichijō	PR only		–	13	Masuko Yoshida			–	HRP: 19,507 votes (0.9%), no seat
14	Katsuko Nishimoto			–	–					#	Candidate	District	"Loss ratio"	Elected
15	Masaharu Sasanuma			–						1	Akemi Takeo	PR only		–
16	Toshiyuki Minakuchi			–						2	Keiko Kushihata			–
–										3	Yukinori Tōjō			–
										4	Shūhei Oka			–