How modern Japan established its electoral districts:

lightening the districts as the political spatial institute

Abstract

Japan’s electoral district began its history in 1889 with the introduction of the single-seat constituency system. Since then, it has changed among large-constituency, middle-constituency, and single-seat systems over the years, and is today using combination of single-seat constituencies and proportional representation. On the other hand, the allocation of the individual electoral districts has been implemented with reasonable continuity since the Meiji Era. In understanding Japan’s electoral system, perceiving electoral districts as a spatial political regime and discussing its historical developments will become an imperative task.

  This paper will elucidate the process in which the original 1889 districts were decided upon, based on multiple proposals considered at the time. Only including the Cabinet, Ministry of Interior, and prefectural governors in formulating its decision resulted in a method that retained the former clan districts for stable operations of elections, as well as from an administrative aspect of managing election administration. Notably, the inheritance of the old order and the adoption of the single-seat system allowed local worthies to retain their influence on the elections, and therefore left an significant impact on the development of constitutional government in Japan.