electionstracker

Japan 1990 general election

What was the result of the 1990 general election in Japan?

Liberal Democratic Party won 275 of 512 seats with 46.2% of the vote. 73.3% 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 275 of 512 seats with 46.2% of the vote; 73.3% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 1.9 points on 1986.

  • Liberal Democratic Party 275 −25 seats 46.2% −3.3 points
  • Japan Socialist Party 136 +51 seats 24.4% +7.1 points
  • Komeito 45 −11 seats 8.0% −1.4 points
  • Japanese Communist Party 16 −10 seats 8.0% −0.8 points
  • Democratic Socialist Party 14 −12 seats 4.8% −1.6 points
  • Socialist Democratic Federation 4 0 seats 0.9% 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 1986 general election, party by party.

257 of 512 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 46.2%

    Share of the vote won by Liberal Democratic Party

    Liberal Democratic Party won 275 of 512 seats. A majority needs 257.

  2. +51 seats

    Seats gained by Japan Socialist Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1986. Liberal Democratic Party lost 25 seats.

  3. 73.3%

    Voter turnout

    Up 1.9 points on 1986.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Liberal Democratic Party275−2546.2−3.330,315,417
Japan Socialist Party136+5124.4+7.116,025,473
Komeito45−118.0−1.45,242,675
Japanese Communist Party16−108.0−0.85,226,987
Independents21+127.3+1.54,807,524
Democratic Socialist Party14−124.8−1.63,178,949
Socialist Democratic Federation400.90.0566,957
Unnamed party with one seat10.4281,793

± is the change against the Japan 1986 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Liberal Democratic Party 30,315,417
  • Japan Socialist Party 16,025,473
  • Komeito 5,242,675
  • Japanese Communist Party 5,226,987
  • Independents 4,807,524
  • Democratic Socialist Party 3,178,949
  • Socialist Democratic Federation 566,957
  • Unnamed party with one seat 281,793

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?

73.3% of the 90,322,908 registered voters cast a ballot (66,215,906 ballots), up 1.9 points on 1986. 65,704,311 of them were valid votes. The highest turnout since 1980 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Liberal Democratic Party46.2% of votes53.7% of seats
  • Japan Socialist Party24.4% of votes26.6% of seats
  • Komeito8.0% of votes8.8% of seats
  • Japanese Communist Party8.0% of votes3.1% of seats
  • Democratic Socialist Party4.8% of votes2.7% of seats
  • Socialist Democratic Federation0.9% of votes0.8% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 7.1 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.4 by votes and 2.7 by seats; Liberal Democratic Party led Japan Socialist Party by 21.8 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of