House of Councillors

The House of Councillors (参議院, Sangiin; Japanese pronunciation: [saŋʲ.ɡʲiꜜ.iɴ, -ŋʲiꜜ-]) is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or the nomination of the prime minister, the House of Representatives can insist on its decision. In other decisions, the House of Representatives can override a vote of the House of Councillors only by a two-thirds majority of members present. The House of Councillors has 248 members who each serve six-year terms, two years longer than those of the House of Representatives. Councillors must be at least 30 years old, compared with 25 years old in the House of Representatives. The House of Councillors cannot be dissolved, and terms are staggered so that only half of its membership is up for election every three years. Of the 124 members subject to election each time, 74 are elected from 45 districts by single non-transferable vote (SNTV) and 50 are elected from a nationwide list by proportional representation (PR) with open lists.

Infobox

Type

Upper house of the National Diet

President

Masakazu Sekiguchi, LDP (caucus: independent) since 11 November 2024

Vice President

Tetsuro Fukuyama, CDP (caucus: independent) since 1 August 2025

Seats

248

Political groups

Government (100) LDP (100) Supported by (19) Ishin (19) Opposition (120) CDP-SDP (42)[a] DPFP (25)[b] Kōmeitō (21) Sanseitō (15) JCP (7) Reiwa (6) CPJ (2) Okinawa Whirlwind (2) Unaffiliated (9) LDP (1/Speaker) CDP (1/Vice Speaker) Independent (7)[c]

Committees

17 committees

Length of term

6 years

Salary

President: ¥2,170,000/mVice President: ¥1,584,000/mMembers: ¥1,294,000/m

Voting system

Parallel voting:Single non-transferable vote (148 seats)Party-list proportional representation (100 seats)Staggered elections

First election

20 April 1947

Last election

20 July 2025

Next election

2028

Tables

Composition of the House of Councillors of the National Diet of Japan (as of 17 November 2024, after 215th National Diet)[16] · Current composition

Caucus (English name)(domestic name)

Col 1

Caucus (English name)(domestic name)

Col 2

Parties

Col 3

Members

Term

Col 1

Term

Col 2

Total

29 July 2019 – 28 July 2025(elected 2019,up 2025)

Col 1

29 July 2019 – 28 July 2025(elected 2019,up 2025)

Col 2

26 July 2022 – 25 July 2028(elected 2022,up 2028)

Col 1

Col 2

SNTV/FPTP

Col 3

Subtotal

Col 4

Col 5

SNTV/FPTP

Col 6

Subtotal

Government

Col 1

Government

Col 2

140

Opposition

Col 1

Opposition

Col 2

Independents (government & opposition)

Col 1

Independents (government & opposition)

Col 2

Col 3

Col 4

Col 5

Col 6

Col 7

Col 8

Total

Col 1

Total

Col 2

Col 3

Col 4

117

Col 5

Col 6

Col 7

123

Col 8

240

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Col 1

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Caucus (English name)(domestic name)		Parties	Members
			Term						Total
			29 July 2019 – 28 July 2025(elected 2019,up 2025)			26 July 2022 – 25 July 2028(elected 2022,up 2028)
			PR	SNTV/FPTP	Subtotal	PR	SNTV/FPTP	Subtotal
Government									140
	Liberal Democratic PartyJiyūminshutō	Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)	19	33	52	18	43	61	113
	KomeitoKōmeitō	Komeito	7	7	14	6	7	13	27
Opposition									91
	The Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and Social Democratic Party Rikken-minshu / Shamin / Mushozoku	Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP)Social Democratic Party (SDP)Independents	9	15	24	8	10	18	42
	Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) Nippon Ishin no Kai	Nippon Ishin no Kai	4	2	6	8	4	12	18
	Democratic Party For the People and The Shin-RyokufukaiKokumin-minshutō / Shin-Ryokufūkai	Democratic Party For the People (DPFP)Independents	3	2	5	3	3	6	11
	Japanese Communist PartyNihon Kyōsantō	Japanese Communist Party (JCP)	4	3	7	3	1	4	11
	Reiwa ShinsengumiReiwa Shinsengumi	Reiwa Shinsengumi	2	0	2	2	1	3	5
	The Party to Protect People from NHKNHK kara kokumin o mamoru tō	The Party to Protect the People from NHK	1	0	1	1	0	1	2
	Okinawa WhirlwindOkinawa no Kaze	Okinawa Social Mass Party	0	1	1	0	1	1	2
Independents (government & opposition)			1	4	5	1	3	4	9
	IndependentsMembers not affiliated with any parliamentary caucus	LDP 1 (President)CDP 1 (Vice President)Sanseitō 1Independents	1	4	5	1	3	4	9
Total			50	67	117	50	73	123	240
	Vacant: 8 majoritarian seats, three from Tokyo and one each from Kanagawa, Aichi, Osaka, Hyōgo and Wakayama(no by-elections before 2025 regular election without additional vacancies; Tokyo will hold an integrated by- and regular election)	N/A	0	7	7	0	1	1	8
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· List of House of Councillors regular elections › 20th century

Shōwa(era)

Election

1st

Cabinet

Yoshida I

Prime Minister

Shigeru Yoshida

Date

20 April 1947

Turnout

61.12%

Totalseats

250

Electedseats

250

Termexpirationdate

2 May 1953

Majority party / Seats share

Socialist

Majority party / Seats share

18.80%

Emperor

Shōwa(era)

Election

Cabinet

Prime Minister

Date

Turnout

Totalseats

Electedseats

Termexpirationdate

Majority party / Seats share

Emperor

1st

Yoshida I

Shigeru Yoshida

20 April 1947

61.12%

250

2 May 1953

Socialist

18.80%

Shōwa(era)

2nd

Yoshida III

4 June 1950

72.19%

125

3 June 1956

Liberal

30.40%

3rd

Yoshida IV

24 April 1953

63.18%

2 May 1959

37.20%

4th

I. Hatoyama III

Ichirō Hatoyama

8 July 1956

62.11%

7 July 1962

Liberal Democratic

122

48.80%

5th

Kishi II

Nobusuke Kishi

2 June 1959

58.75%

1 June 1965

132

52.80%

6th

Ikeda II

Hayato Ikeda

1 July 1962

68.22%

7 July 1968

142

56.80%

7th

Satō I

Eisaku Satō

4 July 1965

67.02%

1 July 1971

140

55.77%

8th

Satō II

7 July 1968

68.94%

7 July 1974

142

54.80%

9th

Satō III

27 June 1971

59.24%

252

126

10 July 1977

131

52.61%

10th

K. Tanaka II

Kakuei Tanaka

7 July 1974

73.20%

7 July 1980

126

50.40%

11th

T. Fukuda

Takeo Fukuda

10 July 1977

68.49%

9 July 1983

124

49.79%

12th

Ōhira II

Masayoshi Ōhira

22 June 1980

74.54%

7 July 1986

135

54.00%

13th

Nakasone I

Yasuhiro Nakasone

26 June 1983

57.00%

9 July 1989

137

54.36%

14th

Nakasone II (R2)

6 July 1986

71.36%

7 July 1992

143

56.74%

15th

Uno

Sōsuke Uno

23 July 1989

65.02%

252

126

22 July 1995

109

43.25%

Akihito(Heisei)(era)

16th

Miyazawa

Kiichi Miyazawa

26 July 1992

50.72%

25 July 1998

107

42.46%

17th

Murayama

Tomiichi Murayama

23 July 1995

44.52%

22 July 2001

111

44.04%

18th

Hashimoto II (R)

Ryutaro Hashimoto

12 July 1998

58.84%

25 July 2004

103

40.87%

· List of House of Councillors regular elections › 21st century

Akihito(Heisei)(era)

Election

19th

Cabinet

Koizumi I

Prime Minister

Junichiro Koizumi

Date

29 July 2001

Turnout

56.44%

Totalseats

247

Electedseats

121

Termexpirationdate

28 July 2007

Majority party / Seats share

Liberal Democratic

Majority party / Seats share

111

Majority party / Seats share

44.93%

Emperor

Akihito(Heisei)(era)

Election

Cabinet

Prime Minister

Date

Turnout

Totalseats

Electedseats

Termexpirationdate

Majority party / Seats share

Emperor

19th

Koizumi I

Junichiro Koizumi

29 July 2001

56.44%

247

121

28 July 2007

Liberal Democratic

111

44.93%

Akihito(Heisei)(era)

20th

Koizumi II

11 July 2004

56.57%

242

25 July 2010

115

47.52%

21st

S. Abe I

Shinzo Abe

29 July 2007

58.64%

28 July 2013

Democratic

109

45.04%

22nd

Kan

Naoto Kan

11 July 2010

57.92%

25 July 2016

106

43.80%

23rd

S. Abe II

Shinzo Abe

21 July 2013

52.61%

28 July 2019

Liberal Democratic

115

47.52%

24th

S. Abe III (R1)

10 July 2016

54.70%

25 July 2022

121

50.00%

25th

S. Abe IV (R1)

21 July 2019

48.80%

245

124

28 July 2025

113

46.12%

Naruhito(Reiwa)(era)

26th

Kishida II

Fumio Kishida

10 July 2022

52.05%

248

25 July 2028

119

47.98%

27th

Ishiba II

Shigeru Ishiba

20 July 2025

58.51%

248

125

28 July 2031

101

40.73%

References

CDP (37) SDP (2) Independent (3)
DPFP (22) Independent (3)
Team Mirai (1) Independent (6)
NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, ed. (24 May 2016). NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典 (in Japanese). NHK Publishing.
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http://www.sangiin.go.jp/japanese/san60/s60_shiryou/senkyo.htm
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https://www.sangiin.go.jp/japanese/joho1/kousei/giin/215/giinsu.htm
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https://www.sangiin.go.jp/japanese/joho1/kousei/eng/strength/index.htm
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