electionstracker

Japan 2012 general election

What was the result of the 2012 general election in Japan?

Liberal Democratic Party won 294 of 480 seats with 27.6% of the vote. 59.3% 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 294 of 480 seats with 27.6% of the vote; 59.3% of registered voters cast a ballot, down 9.9 points on 2009.

  • Liberal Democratic Party 294 +175 seats 27.6% +0.9 points
  • Japan Restoration Party 54 20.4%
  • Democratic Party of Japan 57 −251 seats 16.0% −26.4 points
  • Komeito 31 +10 seats 11.8% +0.3 points
  • Your Party 18 +13 seats 8.7% +4.4 points
  • Japanese Communist Party 8 −1 seat 6.1% −0.9 points
  • Tomorrow Party of Japan 9 5.7%
  • Japan Socialist Party 2 −5 seats 2.4% −1.9 points
  • New Party Daichi 1 0 seats 0.6% 0.0 points
  • People's New Party 1 −2 seats 0.1% −1.6 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 2009 general election, party by party.

241 of 480 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 27.6%

    Share of the vote won by Liberal Democratic Party

    Liberal Democratic Party won 294 of 480 seats. A majority needs 241.

  2. +175 seats

    Seats gained by Liberal Democratic Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 2009. Democratic Party of Japan lost 251 seats.

  3. 59.3%

    Voter turnout

    Down 9.9 points on 2009.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Liberal Democratic Party294+17527.6+0.916,624,457
Japan Restoration Party5420.412,262,228
Democratic Party of Japan57−25116.0−26.49,628,653
Komeito31+1011.8+0.37,116,474
Your Party18+138.7+4.45,245,586
Japanese Communist Party8−16.1−0.93,689,159
Tomorrow Party of Japan95.73,423,915
Japan Socialist Party2−52.4−1.91,420,790
New Party Daichi100.60.0346,848
Happiness Realization Party00.4216,150
People's New Party1−20.1−1.670,847
Independents5−1

± is the change against the Japan 2009 general election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Liberal Democratic Party 16,624,457
  • Japan Restoration Party 12,262,228
  • Democratic Party of Japan 9,628,653
  • Komeito 7,116,474
  • Your Party 5,245,586
  • Japanese Communist Party 3,689,159
  • Tomorrow Party of Japan 3,423,915
  • Japan Socialist Party 1,420,790
  • New Party Daichi 346,848
  • Happiness Realization Party 216,150
  • People's New Party 70,847
  • 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?

59.3% of the 103,959,866 registered voters cast a ballot (61,662,947 ballots), down 9.9 points on 2009. 60,179,888 of them were valid votes. The lowest turnout since 1996 in our data.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Liberal Democratic Party27.6% of votes61.3% of seats
  • Democratic Party of Japan16.0% of votes11.9% of seats
  • Japan Restoration Party20.4% of votes11.3% of seats
  • Komeito11.8% of votes6.5% of seats
  • Your Party8.7% of votes3.8% of seats
  • Tomorrow Party of Japan5.7% of votes1.9% of seats
  • Japanese Communist Party6.1% of votes1.7% of seats
  • Japan Socialist Party2.4% of votes0.4% of seats
  • New Party Daichi0.6% of votes0.2% of seats
  • People's New Party0.1% of votes0.2% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 25.7 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 5.8 by votes and 2.4 by seats; Liberal Democratic Party led Japan Restoration Party by 7.2 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of