1908 Japanese general election

1908 Japanese general election

15 May 1908
All 379 seats in the House of Representatives 190 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Saionji Kinmochi Collective Leadership Party Rikken Seiyūkai Kensei Hontō Last election 33.47%, 33 seats 26.19%, 90 seats Seats won 187 70 Seat change 54 20 Popular vote 649,858 288,243 Percentage 48.40% 21.47% Swing 14.93pp 4.72pp   Third party Fourth party   Leader Collective leadership Party Yūkōkai Daidō Club Last election  – 12.76%, 58 seats Seats won 29 29 Seat change New 29 Popular vote 99,690 92,477 Percentage 7.42% 6.89% Swing New 5.87pp
Prime Minister before election Saionji Kinmochi Rikken Seiyūkai Prime Minister after election Saionji Kinmochi Rikken Seiyūkai

General elections were held in Japan on 15 May 1908. The result was a victory for the Rikken Seiyūkai party, which won 187 of the 379 seats.

Electoral system

The 379 members of the House of Representatives were elected in 51 multi-member constituencies based on prefectures and cities. Voting was restricted to men aged over 25 who paid at least 10 yen a year in direct taxation.

Campaign

A total of 900 candidates contested the 379 seats.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Rikken Seiyūkai	649,858	48.40	187	+54
	Kensei Hontō	288,243	21.47	70	–20
	Yūkōkai	99,690	7.42	29	New
	Daidō Club	92,477	6.89	29	–29
	Others	212,377	15.82	64	+9
Total		1,342,645	100.00	379	0
Valid votes		1,342,645	99.00
Invalid/blank votes		13,534	1.00
Total votes		1,356,179	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		1,590,045	85.29
Source: Mackie & Rose

By constituency

Tokyo City

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Masutarō Takagi	Independent politician	4,344	16.22	Elected
	Korehiro Kurahara	Yūkōkai	3,295	12.30	Elected
	Kazuo Hatoyama	Rikken Seiyūkai	2,237	8.35	Elected
	Takenaka Nakano	Independent politician	2,106	7.86	Elected
	Shun'ichi Ema	Independent politician	1,712	6.39	Elected
	Saburō Inamoto	Independent politician	1,598	5.97	Elected
	Masatsugu Yamane	Daidō Club	1,493	5.57	Elected
	Gunji Matsushita	Daidō Club	1,386	5.17	Elected
	Shinjirō Miwa	Yūkōkai	1,361	5.08	Elected
	Naohiko Seki	Kensei Hontō	1,300	4.85	Elected
	Kanjūrō Watanabe	Rikken Seiyūkai	1,262	4.71	Elected
	Shirō Isobe	Rikken Seiyūkai	1,207	4.51
	Shōtarō Aoki	Rikken Seiyūkai	1,163	4.34
	Kumakichi Ōishi	Kensei Hontō	916	3.42
	Tetsushirō Takanashi	Rikken Seiyūkai	710	2.65
	Tetsusaburō Hiyama	Independent politician	654	2.44
None of the above			40	0.15
Total			26,784	100.00
Valid votes			26,784	99.30
Invalid/blank votes			188	0.70
Total votes			26,972	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			33,870	79.63

Tokyo Districts

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Masatoshi Takagi	Yūkōkai	3,123	19.52	Elected
	Shōgan Urushi	Rikken Seiyūkai	2,729	17.06	Elected
	Kunisuke Okazaki	Rikken Seiyūkai	2,702	16.89	Elected
	Sakuzō Morikubo	Rikken Seiyūkai	2,500	15.63	Elected
	Tsuneemon Murano	Rikken Seiyūkai	2,465	15.41	Elected
	Katsumasa Nakamura	Rikken Seiyūkai	2,398	14.99
None of the above			80	0.50
Total			15,997	100.00
Valid votes			15,997	99.16
Invalid/blank votes			135	0.84
Total votes			16,132	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			18,626	86.61