March 1898 Japanese general election

General elections were held in Japan on 15 March 1898.

March 1898 Japanese general election

← September 1894 15 March 1898 August 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[a] 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

Notes

1. as Rikken Kaishintō

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.