House of Councillors

House of Councillors

The is the upper house of the Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or designation of the prime minister, the House of Representatives...

 elections were held in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 on July 8, 1956 electing half the seats in the House plus two vacant seats in the other half. The Liberal Democratic Party

Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

The , frequently abbreviated to LDP or , is a centre-right political party in Japan. It is one of the most consistently successful political parties in the democratic world. The LDP ruled almost continuously for nearly 54 years from its founding in 1955 until its defeat in the 2009 election...

 won the most seats, but failed to win a majority. It was the first national election under the 1955 System

1955 System

The was the political system that arose in Japan from 1955 to 1993.-History:After World War II, in November 1945, the major prewar conservative, moderate, and progressives had reorganized and the Japanese Communist Party had been legalized. A cabinet under the parliamentary form of government was...

, approximately a two party system of Ichirō Hatoyama

Ichiro Hatoyama

was a Japanese politician and the 52nd, 53rd and 54th Prime Minister of Japan, serving terms from December 10, 1954 through March 19, 1955, from then to November 22, 1955, and from then through December 23, 1956.-Personal life:...

's Liberal Democratic Party

Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

The , frequently abbreviated to LDP or , is a centre-right political party in Japan. It is one of the most consistently successful political parties in the democratic world. The LDP ruled almost continuously for nearly 54 years from its founding in 1955 until its defeat in the 2009 election...

 (LDP) that was created in the "conservative merger" of 1955 and Suzuki Mosaburō

Suzuki Mosaburo

was a Japanese journalist, essayist, and socialist leader.He was born in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture, to a family descended from medieval hatamoto; however, his father had lost the family's fortune, and as a result Suzuki was forced to work his way through school. He attended Waseda University and...

's reunified Japan Socialist Party (JSP). The later dominant LDP failed to win a majority.

A key campaign issue was Prime Minister Ichirō Hatoyama

Ichiro Hatoyama

was a Japanese politician and the 52nd, 53rd and 54th Prime Minister of Japan, serving terms from December 10, 1954 through March 19, 1955, from then to November 22, 1955, and from then through December 23, 1956.-Personal life:...

's plan to revise Article 9 of the constitution

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is a clause in the National Constitution of Japan that prohibits an act of war by the state. The Constitution came into effect on May 3, 1947, immediately following World War II. In its text, the state formally renounces war as a sovereign right and bans...

 – any change of the constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers of the Diet. The left parties aimed to win at least a third of seats to prevent any constitutional change. Another issue was the government's plan to replace the elected prefectural boards of education with appointed ones, a plan fiercely opposed by the left: In June 1956, on the LDP's request the police intervened in the "deliberations" in the Diet when Socialist Councillors resorted to violence.

Results

Two by-elections for the class of Councillors elected in 1953 were held simultaneously: The candidates with the 51st and 52nd highest vote shares in the national vote (one Socialist and one Liberal Democrat) were elected for three-year terms.

Party	Constituency			National			Total seats	Not up	Post-election composition
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
Liberal Democratic Party Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) The , frequently abbreviated to LDP or , is a centre-right political party in Japan. It is one of the most consistently successful political parties in the democratic world. The LDP ruled almost continuously for nearly 54 years from its founding in 1955 until its defeat in the 2009 election...	14,353,960	48.4	42	11,356,874	39.7	19	61	61	122
Japan Socialist Party	11,156,060	37.6	28	8,549,940	29.9	21	49	31	80
Japanese Communist Party Japanese Communist Party The Japanese Communist Party is a left-wing political party in Japan.The JCP advocates the establishment of a society based on socialism, democracy and peace, and opposition to militarism...	1,149,009	3.9	1	599,254	2.1	1	2	0	2
Ryokufūkai	653,843	2.2	0	2,877,102	10.1	5	5	26	31
Workers and Farmers Party Workers and Farmers Party The Workers and Farmers Party was a Marxist political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party was organised by former Democratic Labour Party leader Stephen Maharaj, C.L.R. James, George Weekes and included the then unknown Basdeo Panday among its slate of candidates.The party contested the 1966...	120,414	0.4	0	181,524	0.6	0	0	0	0
Other parties	115,862	0.4	0	607,832	2.1	1	1	0	1
Independents	2,136,498	7.2	4	4,443,886	15.5	5	9	5	14
Invalid/blank votes
Total	29,685,646	100	75	28,616,411	100	52	127	123	250
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications The ' or Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is a cabinet-level ministry in the Government of Japan. The English name Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications was used prior to 2004...