10.3 Local election systems

Overview of local elections

Local elections in Japan determine who leads and legislates at the municipal and prefectural levels. Because local governments handle services like education, welfare, infrastructure, and public safety, these elections shape citizens' daily lives more directly than many national contests.

Types of local elections

Japan has four main categories of local elections:

• Mayoral elections select the chief executive of a city, town, or village (shi-chō-son-chō). These are direct elections where voters pick one candidate.
• Municipal assembly elections choose representatives for city, town, or village councils, which serve as the local legislative body.
• Prefectural governor elections determine the leader of each of Japan's 47 prefectures. Governors function similarly to mayors but at the regional level.
• Prefectural assembly elections fill seats in the regional legislature that oversees prefectural policy and budgets.

All four types use direct popular vote. Executive positions (mayors and governors) are filled through single-winner races, while assembly elections use different district structures depending on population size.

Electoral districts and boundaries

Municipalities are divided into electoral districts (senkyoku) based on population and geography. For assembly elections, these districts vary in structure:

• Larger cities often use multi-member districts for city council elections, where several seats are up for election in a single district and voters cast one vote for one candidate. The top vote-getters win the available seats (a system known as single non-transferable vote, or SNTV).
• Prefectural assembly elections typically use a combination of single-member and multi-member districts, depending on the population of each area within the prefecture.
• District boundaries are periodically redrawn to account for population shifts and maintain roughly proportional representation.

Voter eligibility and registration

Residency requirements

Voter registration in Japan is tied to the resident registration system (jūminhyō). You don't separately register to vote; instead, local governments automatically compile voter rolls from residency records. This means your eligibility depends on where you're officially registered as a resident.

• You must have been a registered resident of the municipality for at least 3 consecutive months before the election to vote there.
• Students and temporary workers living away from home can vote in their registered home district, though recent reforms have made it easier for people who move to transfer their voting rights to a new municipality.

Age and citizenship criteria

• The minimum voting age was lowered from 20 to 18 in 2015 (effective for elections from 2016 onward), expanding the electorate to include younger citizens.
• Only Japanese citizens may vote in local elections. Permanent residents (including long-term Korean and Chinese residents known as zainichi) and other non-citizens are excluded. Whether to grant local suffrage to permanent residents remains an ongoing political debate.
• Citizens holding dual nationality are required to choose Japanese nationality by age 22. Those who do not may lose their Japanese citizenship and, with it, voting rights.

Candidacy and political parties

Candidate nomination process

Running for local office involves several requirements:

1. Age minimums: Candidates must be at least 25 years old for most local positions (mayor, municipal assembly, prefectural assembly). Prefectural governor candidates must be at least 30.
2. Deposit (kyōtakukin): Candidates must pay a monetary deposit when filing. The amount varies by office. If the candidate receives fewer than a set threshold of votes, the deposit is forfeited. This is designed to discourage frivolous candidacies.
3. Signatures: Independent candidates (those without party backing) must collect a specified number of supporter signatures to file.
4. Diversity efforts: Some municipalities have introduced measures to encourage candidacies from women and younger people, though these remain limited in scope.

Role of political parties

Political parties play a different role in local elections than in national ones:

• Major national parties like the LDP, CDP (Constitutional Democratic Party), and Komeito actively field and endorse candidates in larger cities and prefectural races.
• In smaller towns and villages, local parties, citizen groups, and independents are far more prominent. Many municipal races feature candidates with no formal party affiliation.
• Cross-endorsement is relatively common, where a single candidate receives backing from multiple parties. This happens especially in gubernatorial races where parties form broad coalitions.
• Overall, party labels carry less weight in local elections. Voters tend to focus more on the individual candidate's local reputation and policy positions.

Voting procedures

Polling stations and methods

• Polling stations are set up in public facilities like schools, community centers, and government buildings.
• Japan uses paper ballots on which voters write the name of their chosen candidate by hand (jisho-shiki). This is different from systems that use pre-printed names with checkboxes.
• A few municipalities have piloted electronic voting machines, but paper ballots remain the standard nationwide.
• Strict rules govern polling station operations to ensure neutrality. Campaign materials are prohibited inside, and poll workers are trained to prevent irregularities.

Absentee and early voting

Japan offers several options for voters who can't make it to their assigned polling station on election day:

• Early voting (kijitsu-mae tōhyō): Available at designated locations for several days before the official election day. This has become increasingly popular.
• Absentee voting (fuzai tōhyō): For voters who will be away from their registered municipality on election day, allowing them to vote at a different location.
• Mail-in voting: Available to voters with disabilities or those living in remote areas where reaching a polling station is impractical.
• Overseas voting: Japanese citizens temporarily living abroad can vote through embassies or consulates, though the process requires advance registration.

Election administration

Local election commissions

Each municipality has its own election commission (senkyō iinkai) responsible for running local elections. These commissions are meant to be politically neutral.

• Members are appointed by the local assembly and are expected to operate independently of partisan influence.
• Their duties include maintaining voter rolls, verifying candidate qualifications, managing polling stations, and overseeing vote counting.
• Commissions also handle voter education campaigns aimed at boosting turnout, which has been a persistent concern in local elections across Japan.

Roles of prefectural governments

Prefectural election commissions sit one level above municipal commissions and serve a coordinating role:

• They organize and oversee elections for prefectural governor and assembly positions.
• They provide guidance and support to municipal commissions, helping ensure consistent procedures across the prefecture.
• They compile and officially announce prefectural-level election results.
• When disputes arise between municipal commissions, or when candidates or voters file appeals related to local election outcomes, the prefectural commission mediates.