electionstracker

Japan 1996 general election

What was the result of the 1996 general election in Japan?

Liberal Democratic Party won 239 of 500 seats with 32.8% of the vote. 59.0% 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 239 of 500 seats with 32.8% of the vote; 59.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 8.0 points on 1993.

  • Liberal Democratic Party 239 +16 seats 32.8% −3.9 points
  • New Frontier Party 156 28.0%
  • Democratic Party of Japan 52 16.1%
  • Japanese Communist Party 26 +11 seats 13.1% +5.4 points
  • Japan Socialist Party 15 −55 seats 6.4% −9.1 points
  • New Party Sakigake 2 −11 seats 1.1% −1.5 points
  • Democratic Reform Party 1 0.0%
  • 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 1993 general election, party by party.

251 of 500 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 32.8%

    Share of the vote won by Liberal Democratic Party

    Liberal Democratic Party won 239 of 500 seats. A majority needs 251.

  2. +16 seats

    Seats gained by Liberal Democratic Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1993. Japan Socialist Party lost 55 seats.

  3. 59.0%

    Voter turnout

    Down 8.0 points on 1993.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Liberal Democratic Party239+1632.8−3.918,205,955
New Frontier Party15628.015,580,053
Democratic Party of Japan5216.18,949,190
Japanese Communist Party26+1113.1+5.47,268,743
Japan Socialist Party15−556.4−9.13,547,244
New Party Sakigake2−111.1−1.5582,093
Democratic Reform Party10.018,844
Independents9−21

± is the change against the Japan 1993 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Liberal Democratic Party 18,205,955
  • New Frontier Party 15,580,053
  • Democratic Party of Japan 8,949,190
  • Japanese Communist Party 7,268,743
  • Japan Socialist Party 3,547,244
  • New Party Sakigake 582,093
  • Democratic Reform Party 18,844
  • Independents

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?

59.0% of the 97,909,655 registered voters cast a ballot (57,766,696 ballots), down 8.0 points on 1993. The lowest turnout of this kind in our data, which begins in 1946.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Liberal Democratic Party32.8% of votes47.8% of seats
  • New Frontier Party28.0% of votes31.2% of seats
  • Democratic Party of Japan16.1% of votes10.4% of seats
  • Japanese Communist Party13.1% of votes5.2% of seats
  • Japan Socialist Party6.4% of votes3.0% of seats
  • New Party Sakigake1.1% of votes0.4% of seats
  • Democratic Reform Party0.0% of votes0.2% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 13.2 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 4.3 by votes and 2.9 by seats; Liberal Democratic Party led New Frontier Party by 4.7 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of