March 1898 Japanese general election

General elections were held in Japan on 15 March 1898.

March 1898 Japanese general election

15 March 1898
All 300 seats in the House of Representatives 151 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Itagaki Taisuke Ōkuma Shigenobu Party Liberal Shimpotō Last election 107 49 Seats won 105 103 Seat change 2 54   Third party Fourth party   Leader Shinagawa Yajirō Party Kokumin Kyōkai Yamashita Club Last election 32 – Seats won 29 26 Seat change 3 new
Prime Minister before election Itō Hirobumi Independent Prime Minister after election Itō Hirobumi Independent

Campaign

A total of 605 candidates contested the elections; the Liberal Party nominated the most with 233, Shimpotō had 174, Kokumin Kyōkai 52 and Yamashita Club 26. The remaining 118 candidates were independents.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Liberal Party			105	–2
	Shimpotō			103	+54
	Kokumin Kyōkai			29	–3
	Yamashita Club			26	New
	Independents			37	+3
Total				300	0
Total votes		396,046	–
Registered voters/turnout		452,637	87.50
Source: Statistics Bureau of Japan

References

• Robert A. Scalapino (Ed. by) Robert E. Ward (1973), Political Development in Modern Japan, United States: Princeton University Press.
• Mahendra Prakash (2004), Coalition Experience in Japanese Politics: 1993-2003, New Delhi: JNU[1].