electionstracker

Japan 1983 general election

What was the result of the 1983 general election in Japan?

Liberal Democratic Party won 250 of 511 seats with 45.8% of the vote. 67.9% 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 250 of 511 seats with 45.8% of the vote; 67.9% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 6.6 points on 1980.

  • Liberal Democratic Party 250 −34 seats 45.8% −2.1 points
  • Japan Socialist Party 112 +5 seats 19.5% +0.2 points
  • Komeito 58 +25 seats 10.1% +1.1 points
  • Japanese Communist Party 26 −3 seats 9.3% −0.5 points
  • Democratic Socialist Party 38 +6 seats 7.3% +0.7 points
  • New Liberal Club 8 −4 seats 2.4% −0.6 points
  • Socialist Democratic Federation 3 0 seats 0.7% 0.0 points
  • 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 1980 general election, party by party.

256 of 511 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 45.8%

    Share of the vote won by Liberal Democratic Party

    Liberal Democratic Party won 250 of 511 seats. A majority needs 256.

  2. +25 seats

    Seats gained by Komeito

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1980. Liberal Democratic Party lost 34 seats.

  3. 67.9%

    Voter turnout

    Down 6.6 points on 1980.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Liberal Democratic Party250−3445.8−2.125,982,785
Japan Socialist Party112+519.5+0.211,065,082
Komeito58+2510.1+1.15,745,751
Japanese Communist Party26−39.3−0.55,302,485
Democratic Socialist Party38+67.3+0.74,129,907
Independents16+54.9+1.42,768,735
New Liberal Club8−42.4−0.61,341,584
Socialist Democratic Federation300.70.038,104

± is the change against the Japan 1980 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Liberal Democratic Party 25,982,785
  • Japan Socialist Party 11,065,082
  • Komeito 5,745,751
  • Japanese Communist Party 5,302,485
  • Democratic Socialist Party 4,129,907
  • Independents 2,768,735
  • New Liberal Club 1,341,584
  • Socialist Democratic Federation 38,104

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?

67.9% of the 84,252,608 registered voters cast a ballot (57,238,897 ballots), down 6.6 points on 1980. 56,779,701 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout of this kind in our data, which begins in 1946.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Liberal Democratic Party45.8% of votes48.9% of seats
  • Japan Socialist Party19.5% of votes21.9% of seats
  • Komeito10.1% of votes11.4% of seats
  • Democratic Socialist Party7.3% of votes7.4% of seats
  • Japanese Communist Party9.3% of votes5.1% of seats
  • New Liberal Club2.4% of votes1.6% of seats
  • Socialist Democratic Federation0.7% of votes0.6% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 4.4 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.6 by votes and 3.2 by seats; Liberal Democratic Party led Japan Socialist Party by 26.3 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of