Tochigi at-large district

Tochigi At-Large District (栃木県選挙区, Tochigi-ken Senkyoku) is a multi-member district of the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan (national legislature). It consists of Tochigi Prefecture and elects two Councillors, one per election.

Tochigi at-large district
栃木県選挙区
Parliamentary constituency for the House of Councillors
Prefecture	Tochigi
Electorate	1,612,425 (as of September 2022)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1947
Seats	2
Councillors	Class of 2019:   Katsunori Takahashi (LDP) Class of 2022:   Michiko Ueno (LDP)

Between 1947 and 2007 Tochigi was represented by four councillors, elected two at a time by single non-transferable vote. Like many two-member districts Tochigi often split seats between the two major postwar parties: the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Socialist Party (JSP). In the 1965 election, left-wing Socialist incumbent Takeshi Tokano finished only third behind two LDP candidates while another Socialist candidate, Takashi Hagiwara, received almost as many votes as Tokano. In 1968, the LDP could repeat this success against incumbent Socialist Seiichi Inaba who finished only fourth behind Tokano, this time running as an independent. In the following election of 1971 Tokano returned as a Socialist candidate to his seat with the highest vote; and Seiichi Inaba became a Socialist Member of the House of Representatives where he was a member of the sp cial committee investigating the Lockheed scandal.

In the election of 1974, two independents, one DSP and one Kōmeitō candidate joined the traditional field of LDP, JSP and JCP candidates. Turnout jumped to 74% and independent Takaji Ōshima beat out LDP incumbent Yano for second place, but subsequently joined the LDP himself. Six years later, the leftist vote was still split among one Socialist, one Democratic Socialist and one Communist while there were only two LDP candidates on the conservative side: Once again, the party gained two Tochigi seats in one election. They held onto those seats until the 1990s when the declining JSP collapsed during the party's participation in a LDP government and was ultimately replaced by the Democratic Party of Japan as the largest opposition party.

Current Councillors

Since the 2010 House of Councillors election, the district has been represented in the House of Councillors by 2 Councillors, with one Councillor being up for election every 3 years

As of 23 January 2023, the Councillors currently representing this district are as follows:

• Katsunori Takahashi (LDP) - Class of 2019
• Michiko Ueno (LDP) - Class of 2022

Since the 2013 House of Councillors election, the district has only been represented by members of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Elected Councillors

class of 1947		election year	class of 1950
#1 (1947: #1, 6-year term)	#2 (1947: #2, 6-year term)		#1 (1947: #3, 3-year term)	#2 (1947: #4, 3-year term)
Sadakichi Ōshima (DP)	Shōzaburō Iwasaki (JSP)	1947[2]	Risuke Tonooka (DP)	Haruhiko Uetake (Indep.)
		1947 by-el.[3]	Kikuji Okada (DP)
		1950[4]	Sukeji Sōma (JSP)	Haruhiko Uetake (LP)
Takeshi Tokano (JSP, left)	Seiichirō Satō (Yoshida LP)	1953[5]
		1956[6]		Haruhiko Uetake (LDP)
Takeshi Tokano (JSP)	Michio Yuzawa (LDP)	1959[7]
		1962[8]	Haruhiko Uetake (LDP)	Seiichi Inaba (JSP)
	Tokuya Tsuboyama (LDP)	1963 by-el.[9]
Yuzuru Funada (LDP)	Kensaku Tamura (LDP)	1965[10]
		1968[11]		Noboru Yano (LDP)
Takeshi Tokano (JSP)	Yuzuru Funada (LDP)	1971[12]
		1974[13]	Takashi Ōtsuka (JSP)	Tomoji Ōshima (Indep.)
	Noboru Yano (LDP)	1974 by-el.[14]
Junzō Iwasaki (LDP)	Takeshi Tokano (JSP)	1977[15]
		1980[16]	Mayumi Moriyama (LDP)	Tomoji Ōshima (LDP)
	Yūbun Ueno (JSP)	1983 by-el.[17]
Yūbun Ueno (JSP)	Junzō Iwasaki (LDP)	1983[18]
		1986[19]
		1989[20]
		1992[21]		Tetsurō Yano (LDP)
Junzō Iwasaki (LDP)	Masayuki Kunii (DRP)	1995[22]
		1996 by-el.[23]	Itten Kamiyoshihara (LDP)
		1998[24]	Susumu Yanase (DPJ)
Masayuki Kunii (LDP)	Hiroyuki Tani (DPJ)	2001[25]
		2004[26]
Hiroyuki Tani (DPJ)	–	2007[27]
		2010[28]	Michiko Ueno (LDP)	–
Katsunori Takahashi (LDP)		2013[29]
		2016[30]
		2019[31]
		2022[32]

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

2022^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LDP	Michiko Ueno (Incumbent) (Endorsed by Komeito)	414,456	56.2	2.7
	CDP	Kyo Itakura	127,628	17.3	New
	Ishin	Hiromi Okubo	100,529	13.6	New
	JCP	Keiko Okamura	44,310	6.0	New
	Sanseitō	Hirosato Okuma	30,864	4.2	New
	Anti-NHK	Masako Takahashi	19,090	2.6	New
Registered electors			1,620,720
Majority			286,828	38.9
Turnout			761,414	47.0	4.4
	LDP hold		Swing

Elections in the 2010s

2019^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LDP	Katsunori Takahashi (Incumbent) (Endorsed by Komeito)	373,099	53.5	5.4
	CDP	Kato Chiho (Endorsed by the DPP, SDP and the JCP)	285,681	41.0	New
	Anti-NHK	Norimitsu Machida	38,508	5.5	New
Registered electors			1,634,678
Majority			87,418	12.5	9.8
Turnout			721,383	44.1	5.6
	LDP hold		Swing

2016^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LDP	Michiko Ueno (Incumbent)	484,300	58.9	22.7
	Independent	Takao Tanobe (Endorsed by the DPJ, JCP, SDP and the Liberal Party)	314,401	38.3	New
	Happiness Realization	Misaki Akemi	23,262	2.8	New
Registered electors			1,653,308
Majority			169,899	20.6	20.0
Turnout			849,470	51.4	5.2
	LDP hold		Swing

2013^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LDP	Katsunori Takahashi	376,553	48.1	6.7
	Your	Tomoki Oki	201,895	25.8	New
	Democratic	Hiroyuki Tani (Incumbent)	158,577	20.3	33.6
	JCP	Kazunori Koike	41,351	5.3	0.6
	Happiness Realization	Mitsuharu Suhiura	4,371	0.6	New
Registered electors			1,625,367
Majority			174,658	22.3
Turnout			807,645	49.7	7.0
	LDP gain from Democratic		Swing

2010^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LDP	Michiko Ueno	324,790	36.2	5.9
	Democratic	Susumu Yanase (Incumbent)	319,898	35.6	13.6
	Your	Daiki Araki	224,529	25.0	New
	JCP	Kazunori Koike	28,617	3.2	5.5
Registered electors			1,630,549
Majority			4,892	1.6	New
Turnout			922,728	56.6	5.6
	LDP gain from Democratic		Swing
	LDP loss (seat eliminated)

Elections in the 2000s

2007^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Hiroyuki Tani (Incumbent)	484,900	53.9	25.9
	LDP	Masayuki Kuni (Incumbent)	372,930	41.4	2.8
	JCP	Kazunori Koike	42,335	4.7	0.8
Registered electors			1,624,325
Majority			111,970	12.5	1.9
Turnout			920,343	56.7	2.8
	Democratic gain from LDP		Swing
	Democratic loss (seat eliminated)

2004^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Susumu Yanase (Incumbent)	388,356	49.2	9.5
	LDP	Tetsuro Yano (Incumbent)	332,513	42.1	17.4
	JCP	Setsuko Nomura	69,044	8.7	0.4
Registered electors			1,605,279
Turnout			818,532	51.0	Unknown
	Democratic hold		Swing
	LDP hold		Swing

2001^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

Elections in the 1990s

1998^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1996 by-election^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1995^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1992^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

Elections in the 1980s

1989^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1986^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1983^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1983 by-election^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1980^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

Elections in the 1970s

1977^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1974 by-election^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1974^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1971^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

Elections in the 1960s

1968^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1965^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1963 by-election^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1962^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

Elections in the 1950s

1959^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1956^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1953^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

1950^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%

Elections in the 1940s

1947^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%