electionstracker

Japan 1986 general election

What was the result of the 1986 general election in Japan?

Liberal Democratic Party won 300 of 512 seats with 49.4% of the vote. 71.4% 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 300 of 512 seats with 49.4% of the vote; 71.4% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 3.5 points on 1983.

  • Liberal Democratic Party 300 +50 seats 49.4% +3.7 points
  • Japan Socialist Party 85 −27 seats 17.2% −2.3 points
  • Komeito 56 −2 seats 9.4% −0.7 points
  • Japanese Communist Party 26 0 seats 8.8% −0.6 points
  • Democratic Socialist Party 26 −12 seats 6.4% −0.8 points
  • New Liberal Club 6 −2 seats 1.8% −0.5 points
  • Socialist Democratic Federation 4 +1 seat 0.8% +0.2 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 1983 general election, party by party.

257 of 512 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 49.4%

    Share of the vote won by Liberal Democratic Party

    Liberal Democratic Party won 300 of 512 seats. A majority needs 257.

  2. +50 seats

    Seats gained by Liberal Democratic Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1983. Japan Socialist Party lost 27 seats.

  3. 71.4%

    Voter turnout

    Up 3.5 points on 1983.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Liberal Democratic Party300+5049.4+3.729,875,501
Japan Socialist Party85−2717.2−2.310,412,584
Komeito56−29.4−0.75,701,277
Japanese Communist Party2608.8−0.65,313,246
Democratic Socialist Party26−126.4−0.83,895,858
Independents9−75.8+0.93,515,043
New Liberal Club6−21.8−0.51,114,800
Socialist Democratic Federation4+10.8+0.2499,670

± is the change against the Japan 1983 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Liberal Democratic Party 29,875,501
  • Japan Socialist Party 10,412,584
  • Komeito 5,701,277
  • Japanese Communist Party 5,313,246
  • Democratic Socialist Party 3,895,858
  • Independents 3,515,043
  • New Liberal Club 1,114,800
  • Socialist Democratic Federation 499,670

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?

71.4% of the 86,426,845 registered voters cast a ballot (61,707,654 ballots), up 3.5 points on 1983. 60,448,610 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Liberal Democratic Party49.4% of votes58.6% of seats
  • Japan Socialist Party17.2% of votes16.6% of seats
  • Komeito9.4% of votes10.9% of seats
  • Japanese Communist Party8.8% of votes5.1% of seats
  • Democratic Socialist Party6.4% of votes5.1% of seats
  • New Liberal Club1.8% of votes1.2% of seats
  • Socialist Democratic Federation0.8% of votes0.8% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 7.7 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.4 by votes and 2.6 by seats; Liberal Democratic Party led Japan Socialist Party by 32.2 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of