electionstracker

Japan 1979 general election

What was the result of the 1979 general election in Japan?

Liberal Democratic Party won 248 of 511 seats with 44.6% of the vote. 68.0% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Japan
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Liberal Democratic Party won 248 of 511 seats with 44.6% of the vote; 68.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 5.4 points on 1976.

  • Liberal Democratic Party 248 −1 seat 44.6% +2.8 points
  • Japan Socialist Party 107 −16 seats 19.7% −1.0 points
  • Japanese Communist Party 39 +22 seats 10.4% 0.0 points
  • Komeito 57 +2 seats 9.8% −1.1 points
  • Democratic Socialist Party 35 +6 seats 6.8% +0.5 points
  • New Liberal Club 4 −13 seats 3.0% −1.2 points
  • Socialist Democratic Federation 2 0.7%
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Japan 1976 general election, party by party.

256 of 511 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 44.6%

    Share of the vote won by Liberal Democratic Party

    Liberal Democratic Party won 248 of 511 seats. A majority needs 256.

  2. +22 seats

    Seats gained by Japanese Communist Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1976. Japan Socialist Party lost 16 seats.

  3. 68.0%

    Voter turnout

    Down 5.4 points on 1976.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Liberal Democratic Party248−144.6+2.824,084,140
Japan Socialist Party107−1619.7−1.010,643,450
Japanese Communist Party39+2210.40.05,625,527
Komeito57+29.8−1.15,282,682
Democratic Socialist Party35+66.8+0.53,663,691
Independents19−24.9−0.82,641,064
New Liberal Club4−133.0−1.21,631,811
Socialist Democratic Federation20.7368,660

± is the change against the Japan 1976 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Liberal Democratic Party 24,084,140
  • Japan Socialist Party 10,643,450
  • Japanese Communist Party 5,625,527
  • Komeito 5,282,682
  • Democratic Socialist Party 3,663,691
  • Independents 2,641,064
  • New Liberal Club 1,631,811
  • Socialist Democratic Federation 368,660

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

68.0% of the 80,169,924 registered voters cast a ballot (54,518,515 ballots), down 5.4 points on 1976. 54,010,121 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1947 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Liberal Democratic Party44.6% of votes48.5% of seats
  • Japan Socialist Party19.7% of votes20.9% of seats
  • Komeito9.8% of votes11.2% of seats
  • Japanese Communist Party10.4% of votes7.6% of seats
  • Democratic Socialist Party6.8% of votes6.8% of seats
  • New Liberal Club3.0% of votes0.8% of seats
  • Socialist Democratic Federation0.7% of votes0.4% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 4.1 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.8 by votes and 3.3 by seats; Liberal Democratic Party led Japan Socialist Party by 24.9 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of