2023 Japanese unified local elections
{{Short description|none}}
{{Cleanup rewrite|date=June 2023}}
The 2023 Japanese unified local elections were held across the country on 9 and 23 April 2023. In total 15,047 candidates were elected in 1,008 races with a high of 1,685 in Hokkaido and a low of 1 in Okinawa.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) scored a comfortable victory. Six LDP (and Komei) endorsed candidates won the governorship. The LDP also managed to win more than half of all the prefectural assembly seats in the prefecture that held elections.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/10/japan-ruling-party-triumphs-in-local-election-despite-criticism-over-links-to-moonies |title=Japan ruling party triumphs in local elections despite criticism over links to Moonies | Japan |work=The Guardian |date=2018-01-31 |access-date=2023-04-10}}
Major victories were also won by Nippon Ishin no Kai. In addition to winning in its home base of Osaka, Ishin also won the contest for governor of Nara and increased the number of seats it now holds in neighboring prefectures. The party secured majorities in the Osaka prefectural and municipal assemblies for the first time ever, and they even took home six seats in the Kanagawa Prefectural Assembly.{{cite web|author=Updated on April 10, 2023 05:17 JST |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Japan-Innovation-wins-big-in-local-elections-set-to-redraw-opposition |title=Japan Innovation wins big in local elections, set to redraw opposition - Nikkei Asia |publisher=Asia.nikkei.com |date= |access-date=2023-04-10}}
Turnouts this month were at record lows for all elections with the exception of the Hakodate mayoral contest{{Cite web |last=Bosack |first=Michael MacArthur |date=2023-04-25 |title=Japan's political landscape after the unified elections |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2023/04/25/commentary/japan-commentary/japan-unified-elections/ |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=The Japan Times |language=en-US}} and mayoral and assembly races in Tokyo wards which were higher than the last election but still did not top 50%.{{Cite web |last=日本放送協会 |title=統一地方選 市町村議選・町村長選の投票率 過去最低 {{!}} NHK |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20230424/k10014047321000.html |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=NHKニュース|date=26 April 2023 }}
This maintains a pattern in Japan, where fewer and fewer people are casting ballots ever since the LDP took back control in 2012.
Background
=LDP's declining popularity and Kishida's attempts to rebound it=
Since the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, the historically dominant LDP began to face strong criticism over its link to the Unification Church. Abe's murderer Tetsuya Yamagami had claimed that his family was bankrupted by the church. Soon after the assassination, the Japanese media ventured into investigations which unearthed pervasive links between some of the LDP's senior politicians and the church, leading to a decline in the LDP's approval.
However, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ramped up efforts to salvage his party's reputation. He promised to double defense spending and held a meeting with the South Korean President. He also paid a surprise visit to Ukraine.
These foreign and defense policy achievements bolstered his approval rating.{{cite news|first=Walter |last=SimJapan |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/japan-pm-kishida-s-ruling-party-scores-big-wins-in-local-election-contests |title=Japan PM Kishida's ruling party scores big wins in local election contests |work=The Straits Times |date=2023-03-23 |access-date=2023-04-10}}
=Candidate shortage=
One of the most critical issues of this election was a shortage of candidates. 556 candidates in nearly 40% of the districts ran uncontested. This reflected the increasingly dysfunctional nature of Japanese society due to its rapid population decline.{{cite web|url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Japan-has-a-candidate-shortage-for-local-elections-on-Sunday |title=Japan has a candidate shortage for local elections on Sunday - Nikkei Asia |publisher=Asia.nikkei.com |date= |access-date=2023-04-10}}
= April elections by prefecture in Stage 1 and 2 =
1008 elections were held across all prefectures. The number of elections held by prefecture varied greatly from a low of one in Toyama and Okinawa prefectures to a high of 177 in the prefecture of Hokkaido which was by far the largest number.
Stage 1 on 9 April featured the following elections:
| class="wikitable"
! Prefectural governor !! Prefectural assembly !! Designated major city mayor !! Designated major city assembly | |||
| 9 | 41 | 6 | 16 |
Stage 2 on 23 April featured the following elections:
| class="wikitable"
! City mayor !! City assembly !! Special ward mayor !! Special ward assembly !! Town mayor !! Town assembly !! Village mayor !! Village assembly | |||||||
| 88 | 306 | 12 | 21 | 97 | 296 | 28 | 88 |
This is the total list of all elections held on 9 and 23 April broken down by prefecture and position:
| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" | Prefecture ! colspan="4" | 9 April 2023 Elections!! colspan="8" | 23 April 2023 Elections | ||||||||||||||
| rowspan="2" | 都道府県 | rowspan="2" | Prefecture | rowspan="2" | Governor | rowspan="2" | Assembly
| colspan="2" | Designated major city | colspan="2" | Other city | colspan="2" | Special ward | colspan="2" | Town | colspan="2" | Village
| rowspan="2" | Total by Prefecture | |||||||
| mayor | assembly | mayor | assembly | mayor | assembly | mayor | assembly | mayor | assembly | |||||
| 愛知県 | Aichi | 1 | 1 | 6 | 23 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 48 | ||||
| 秋田県 | Akita | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||
| 青森県 | Aomori | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 24 | ||||||
| 千葉県 | Chiba | 1 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 29 | ||||||
| 愛媛 | Ehime | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 福井県 | Fukui | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | |||||||
| 福岡県 | Fukuoka | 1 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 41 | ||||||
| 福島県 | Fukushima | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 | |||||||
| 岐阜県 | Gifu | 1 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 27 | |||||
| 群馬県 | Gunma | 1 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 31 | |||||
| 広島県 | Hiroshima | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |||||
| 北海道 | Hokkaido | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 27 | 31 | 86 | 4 | 14 | 177 | ||
| 兵庫県 | Hyogo | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 17 | ||||||
| 茨城県 | Ibaraki | 3 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 23 | ||||||
| 石川県 | Ishikawa | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 14 | |||||||
| 岩手県 | Iwate | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||||||||
| 香川県 | Kagawa | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 12 | ||||||||
| 鹿児島 | Kagoshima | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 11 | |||||||
| 神奈川県 | Kanagawa | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 26 | ||||
| 高知県 | Kochi | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 17 | ||||||
| 熊本県 | Kumamoto | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 28 | ||||
| 京都府 | Kyoto | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 13 | |||||||
| 三重県 | Mie | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 11 | |||||||
| 宮城県 | Miyagi | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| 宮崎県 | Miyazaki | 1 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 21 | ||||||
| 長野県 | Nagano | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 4 | 15 | 45 | |||||
| 長崎県 | Nagasaki | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 13 | |||||||
| 奈良県 | Nara | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 33 | ||||
| 新潟県 | Niigata | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 13 | ||||||
| 大分県 | Oita | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 13 | ||||||
| 岡山 | Okayama | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |||||||
| 沖縄県 | Okinawa | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| 大阪府 | Osaka | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 17 | 4 | 35 | |||||
| 佐賀県 | Saga | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||||||||
| 埼玉県 | Saitama | 1 | 1 | 2 | 20 | 1 | 12 | 37 | ||||||
| 滋賀県 | Shiga | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||||||||
| 島根県 | Shimane | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||
| 静岡県 | Shizuoka | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 21 | |||||
| 栃木県 | Tochigi | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 14 | |||||||
| 徳島県 | Tokushima | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 15 | |||||
| 東京都 | Tokyo | 4 | 20 | 12 | 21 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 65 | ||||
| 鳥取県 | Tottori | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||||||
| 富山県 | Toyama | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| 和歌山県 | Wakayama | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10 | ||||||||
| 山形県 | Yamagata | 1 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 18 | ||||||
| 山口県 | Yamaguchi | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||||||||
| 山梨県 | Yamanashi | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 15 | |||||
| Total Positions | 9 | 41 | 6 | 16 | 88 | 306 | 12 | 21 | 97 | 296 | 28 | 88 | 1008 |
Results
= Stage 1: 9 April =
The LDP secured a comfortable victory in the elections. It won six of the nine gubernatorial races that were in play. Particularly pleasing for the party was its victory in Hokkaido, where the centre-left party CDP had been historically strong. The LDP however failed to do well in Western Japan, notably in Osaka and Nara.
The Japan Innovation Party's victory also attracted significant attention, with political analysts predicting a strong future for it in the second round of local elections and at the national stage.{{cite web|last=Johnston |first=Eric |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/04/09/national/politics-diplomacy/osaka-japan-local-elections/ |title=Nippon Ishin candidates win big in Kansai region local elections |publisher=The Japan Times |date=1970-01-01 |access-date=2023-04-10}}
Voter turnout for the all the gubernatorial elections was 46.8% while the average voter turnout for the mayoral elections in designated cities was 46.6%.
== Voter turnout ==
=== Gubernatorial Elections ===
| class="wikitable"
! Hokkaido !! Kanazawa !! Fukui !! Osaka !! Nara !! Tottori !! Shimane !! Tokushima !! Oita !! Total | |||||||||
| 51.7% | 40.4% | 51.1% | 47.0% | 54.8% | 48.8% | 55.0% | 54.6% | 51.5% | 46.8% |
=== Designated City Mayoral Elections ===
| class="wikitable"
! Sapporo !! Sagamihara !! Shizuoka !! Hamamatsu !! Osaka !! Hiroshima !! Total | ||||||
| 51.0% | 45.5% | 45.6% | 49.4% | 48.3% | 34.5% | 46.6% |
== Governors ==
LDP=Liberal Democratic Party CDP=Constitutional Democratic Party Komeito=Komei JCP=Japan Communist Party NIK=Nippon Ishin no Kai (also refers to Osaka Ishin no Kai) DPFP=Democratic Party for the People SDP=Social Democratic Party, Sanseito=Sansei, Seijika Joshi 48 Party=48
- * denotes prefectural chapter
| class="wikitable"
! !Turnout (%) ! colspan="2" |Party !Endorsed by (Recommended by) !Candidate !Votes !% |
| rowspan="2" |Fukui Prefecture
| rowspan="2" align="right" |51.08 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Ind |LDP, CDP, Komei | align="right" |282,097 | align="right" |89.6 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}" |
|JCP | |Yukie Kanemoto | align="right" |32,778 | align="right" |10.4 |
| rowspan="4" |Hokkaido
| rowspan="4" align="right" |51.70 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Ind |LDP, Komeito, NPD | align="right" |1,692,436 | align="right" |75.6 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind |CDP (JCP, *DPFP, SDP, Netto Hokkaido) | align="right" |479,678 | align="right" |21.4 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind | |Yoshio Monbetsu | align="right" |40,579 | align="right" |1.8 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind | |Daisuke Mihara | align="right" |24,978 | align="right" |1.1 |
| rowspan="4" |Kanagawa Prefecture
| rowspan="4" align="right" |40.35 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Ind |*LDP, *Komei, *DPFP | align="right" |1,933,753 | align="right" |67.6 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind |JCP |Makiko Kishi | align="right" |651,473 | align="right" |22.8 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Seijika Joshi 48 Party}}" |
|48 | |Ayaka Otsu | align="right" |151,361 | align="right" |5.3 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind | |Kenichiro Kato | align="right" |123,922 | align="right" |4.3 |
| rowspan="6" |Nara Prefecture
| rowspan="6" align="right" |54.82 | bgcolor="{{party color|Nippon Ishin no Kai}}" | |Ishin | |Makoto Yamashita | align="right" |266,404 | align="right" |44.4 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind |*CDP |Shou Hiraki | align="right" |196,729 | align="right" |32.8 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind |*DPFP | align="right" |97,033 | align="right" |16.2 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind |JCP |Itsuzō Oguchi | align="right" |19,861 | align="right" |3.3 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind | |Nobuko Nishiguchi | align="right" |13,034 | align="right" |2.2 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind | |Takashi Hatano | align="right" |6,806 | align="right" |1.1 |
| rowspan="2" |Ōita Prefecture
| rowspan="2" align="right" |51.45 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Ind |LDP, *Komeito |Kiichiro Sato | align="right" |271,400 | align="right" |57.3 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind | |Kiyoshi Adachi | align="right" |202,623 | align="right" |42.7 |
| rowspan="6" |Osaka Prefecture
| rowspan="6" align="right" |46.98 | bgcolor="{{party color|Osaka Restoration Association}}" | | | align="right" |2,439,444 | align="right" |73.7 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind | |Mayumi Taniguchi | align="right" |437,972 | align="right" |13.2 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind |JCP | align="right" |263,355 | align="right" |8.0 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Sanseitō}}" |
| |Toshiaki Yoshino | align="right" |114,764 | align="right" |3.5 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Seijika Joshi 48 Party}}" |
|48 | |Sayaka Sato | align="right" |32,459 | align="right" |1.0 |
| |Other
| |Hideya Inagaki | align="right" |22,367 | align="right" |0.7 |
| rowspan="3" |Shimane Prefecture
| rowspan="3" align="right" |54.96 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Ind |LDP, CDP, Komeito, DPFP | align="right" |251,545 | align="right" |86.3 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}" |
|JCP | |Shinichi Mukose | align="right" |29,964 | align="right" |10.3 |
| |Other
| |Masaaki Moritane | align="right" |10,083 | align="right" |3.5 |
| rowspan="4" |Tokushima Prefecture
| rowspan="4" align="right" |54.60 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Ind | | align="right" |130,993 | align="right" |40.0 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind | |Tōru Miki | align="right" |100,309 | align="right" |30.6 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Ind |*LDP | align="right" |85,956 | align="right" |26.2 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}" |
|JCP | |Motonori Furuta | align="right" |10,546 | align="right" |3.2 |
| rowspan="2" |Tottori Prefecture
| rowspan="2" align="right" |48.85 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Ind |*LDP, *CDP, *Komeito | align="right" |200,442 | align="right" |91.8 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}" |
|JCP | |Hideyuki Fukuzumi | align="right" |17,822 | align="right" |8.2 |
| colspan="8" | |
|---|
| colspan="8" |Source: [https://www.nhk.or.jp/senkyo/database/touitsu/ NHK] |
== Prefectural assemblies ==
LDP=Liberal Democratic Party CDP=Constitutional Democratic Party Komeito=Komei JCP=Japan Communist Party *NIK=Nippon Ishin no Kai (also refers to Osaka Ishin no Kai) DPFP=Democratic Party for the People SDP=Social Democratic Party Sanseito=Sansei
| class="wikitable"
! ! colspan="10" |SEATS WON | ||||||||||
| Prefecture | LDP | CDP | ISHIN | KOMEI | JCP | DPFP | SDP | SANSEI | OTHER | IND |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido | 49 | 23 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Aomori | 25 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| Iwate | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Miyagi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Akita | 24 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Yamagata | 26 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Fukushima | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ibaraki | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tochigi | 29 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Gunma | 27 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| Saitama | 53 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| Chiba | 44 | 15 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 |
| Tokyo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tokyo Wards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kanagawa | 48 | 26 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| Niigata | 28 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Toyama | 31 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Ishikawa | 30 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Fukui | 18 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| Yamanashi | 17 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Nagano | 22 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Gifu | 32 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Shizuoka | 38 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Aichi | 58 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 22 |
| Mie | 21 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| Shiga | 21 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 |
| Kyoto | 28 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Osaka | 7 | 1 | 55 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Hyogo | 24 | 4 | 21 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| Nara | 17 | 2 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Wakayama | 27 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Tottori | 15 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Shimane | 21 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Okayama | 32 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Hiroshima | 29 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 |
| Yamaguchi | 25 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Tokushima | 21 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Kagawa | 25 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Ehime | 21 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Kochi | 19 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Fukuoka | 40 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 |
| Saga | 27 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Nagasaki | 29 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Kumamoto | 31 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Oita | 17 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
| Miyazaki | 24 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Kagoshima | 33 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Okinawa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 1153 | 185 | 124 | 169 | 75 | 31 | 3 | 4 | 23 | 493 |
Source NHK{{Cite web |last=日本放送協会 |title=統一地方選挙2023 衆参補欠選挙 ｜NHK選挙WEB |url=https://www.nhk.or.jp/senkyo/database/touitsu/ |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=www.nhk.or.jp |language=ja}} & Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications{{Cite web |title=総務省｜第20回統一地方選挙 発表資料 |url=https://www.soumu.go.jp/senkyo/20touitsusokuhou/index.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |website=総務省 |language=ja}}
== Mayors of Designated Cities ==
| class="wikitable"
!Designated city !Turnout (%) ! colspan="2" |Party !Endorsed by !Candidate !Votes !% |
| rowspan="2" |Hamamatsu
| rowspan="2" align="right" |49.44 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Independent |LDP, Komeito |Yusuke Nakano | align="right" |246,745 | align="right" |80.3 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent |JCP |Hiroshi Shimada | align="right" |60,530 | align="right" |19.7 |
| rowspan="3" |Hiroshima
| rowspan="3" align="right" |34.53 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Independent |LDP, Komeito | align="right" |258,336 | align="right" |80.0 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}" |
| |Atsumi Takami | align="right" |36,595 | align="right" |11.3 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent | |Hiroshi Oyama | align="right" |28,186 | align="right" |8.7 |
| rowspan="5" |Osaka
| rowspan="5" align="right" |48.33 | bgcolor="{{party color|Osaka Restoration Association}}" | | |Hideyuki Yokoyama | align="right" |655,802 | align="right" |64.6 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent | |Taeko Kitano | align="right" |268,227 | align="right" |26.4 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent | |Toshihiko Yamazaki | align="right" |45,369 | align="right" |4.5 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent | |Yasuhiko Aramaki | align="right" |30,960 | align="right" |3.0 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent | |Nepentha | align="right" |15,408 | align="right" |1.5 |
| rowspan="5" |Sagamihara
| rowspan="5" align="right" |45.55 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Independent | |Kentaro Motomura | align="right" |196,213 | align="right" |74.4 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent |JCP |Yumiko Tatebe | align="right" |18,731 | align="right" |17.1 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent | |Kota Numakura | align="right" |17,844 | align="right" |6.8 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent | |Hiroyuki Nomoto | align="right" |17,557 | align="right" |6.7 |
| |Association for Creating the
Future of Sagamihara | |Toshiko Takeshima | align="right" |13,505 | align="right" |5.1 |
| rowspan="3" |Sapporo
| rowspan="3" align="right" |50.99 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Independent |CDP, Daiichi | align="right" |458,221 | align="right" |56.0 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent | |Kaoru Takano | align="right" |234,834 | align="right" |28.7 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent |JCP |Hideo Kibata |124,692 |15.2 |
| rowspan="3" |Shizuoka
| rowspan="3" align="right" |45.61 | bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" | |Independent |LDP, CDP, Komeito, DPFP |Takashi Nanba | align="right" |149,117 | align="right" |58.0 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Independent}}" |
|Independent | |Makoto Yamada | align="right" |80,829 | align="right" |31.4 |
| bgcolor="{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}}" |
| |Chika Suzuki | align="right" |27,197 | align="right" |10.6 |
| colspan="8" | |
|---|
| colspan="8" |Source: [https://www.nhk.or.jp/senkyo/database/touitsu/ NHK] |
== Designated city assemblies ==
LDP=Liberal Democratic Party CDP=Constitutional Democratic Party JCP=Japan Communist Party *NIK=Nippon Ishin no Kai (also refers to Osaka Ishin no Kai) DPFP=Democratic Party for the People SDP=Social Democratic Party
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 0.9em;"
! rowspan="3" |Designated city ! rowspan="3" |Total ! colspan="10" |Seats won |
| class="unsortable" style="width:60px;" |LDP
! class="unsortable" style="width:60px;" |Komeito ! class="unsortable" style="width:60px;" |CDP ! class="unsortable" style="width:60px;" |JCP ! class="unsortable" style="width:60px;" |*NIK ! class="unsortable" style="width:60px;" |DPFP ! class="unsortable" style="width:60px;" |SDP ! class="unsortable" style="width:60px;" |Sanseitō ! class="unsortable" style="width:60px;" |Others ! class="unsortable" style="width:60px;" |Ind. |
|---|
| style="background:{{party color|Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)}};" |
! style="background:{{party color|Komeito}};" | ! style="background:{{party color|Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan}};" | ! style="background:{{party color|Japanese Communist Party}};" | ! style="background:{{party color|Nippon Ishin no Kai}};" | ! style="background:{{party color|Democratic Party for the People}};" | ! style="background:{{party color|Social Democratic Party (Japan)}};" | ! style="background:{{party color|Sanseitō}};" | ! style="background:white;" | ! style="background:{{party color|Independent}};" | |
| style="text-align: left;" |Chiba
!50 |14 |8 |8 |7 |4 | | | |1 |8 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Fukuoka
!62 |19 |12 |7 |4 |7 |1 | |1 |1 |10 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Hamamatsu
!46 |7 |5 |1 |3 | | | | | |30 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Hiroshima
!54 |17 |8 | |6 |3 | |2 | | |18 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Kawasaki
!60 |17 |11 |12 |8 |7 |1 | | | |4 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Kobe
!65 |17 |12 |5 |9 |15 |1 | | |2 |4 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Kumamoto
!48 |21 |7 |3 |2 |1 |1 | |2 | |11 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Kyoto
!67 |19 |11 |2 |14 |10 |3 | | |5 |3 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Nagoya
!68 |20 |12 |13 |3 |1 |4 | | |14 |1 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Niigata
!50 |15 |4 |4 |6 |2 | |1 | |1 |17 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Okayama
!46 |17 |8 |3 |4 |1 | | | | |13 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Osaka
!81 |11 |18 | |2 |46 | | | | |4 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Sagamihara
!46 |12 |8 |8 |2 |4 | | | |2 |10 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Saitama
!60 |19 |11 |12 |6 |4 | |1 | |1 |6 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Sakai
!48 |7 |11 |1 |5 |18 | | | | |6 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Sapporo
!68 |26 |10 |18 |7 |5 | | | |1 |1 |
| style="text-align: left;" |Yokohama
!86 |34 |15 |15 |5 |8 |3 | | | |6 |
| class="sortbottom"
! style="text-align: left;" |Total !1,005 !292 !171 !112 !93 !136 !14 !4 !3 !28 !152 |
| colspan="12" | |
| colspan="12" |Source: [https://www.asahi.com/senkyo/local/ Asahi Shimbun] |
= Stage II: 23 April =
After the elections on 23 April the make up of prefectures, cities, Tokyo special wards, towns, and villages which held elections during the first and second stages, look like this
| class="wikitable"
! RACE !! LDP !! CDP !! Ishin !! Komeito !! JCP !! DPFP !! Reiwa !! SDP !! 48 !! Sansei !! Other !! Ind. !! Totals | |||||||||||||
| Governorship | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 |
| Prefectural Assembly | 1153 | 185 | 128 | 169 | 75 | 31 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 23 | 493 | 2264 |
| City/Ward Mayor | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95 | 99 |
| Town/Village Head | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 124 | 125 |
| City/Ward Council | 1226 | 463 | 273 | 1206 | 747 | 101 | 39 | 31 | 1 | 83 | 334 | 3949 | 8453 |
| Town/Village Council | 31 | 23 | 17 | 168 | 255 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 30 | 3554 | 4101 |
| Totals | 2410 | 671 | 366 | 1543 | 1077 | 138 | 39 | 38 | 1 | 100 | 442 | 8222 | 15047 |
== Voter Turnout ==
Aftermath and reactions
Anticipation began to grow that, banking on the success of the local elections, Prime Minister Kishida may call a snap general election.
LDP election Chief Hiroshi Moriyama was quoted as saying, "People have recognized our achievements."{{cite web |author=Updated on April 10, 2023 05:17 JST |date= |title=Japan Innovation wins big in local elections, set to redraw opposition - Nikkei Asia |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Japan-Innovation-wins-big-in-local-elections-set-to-redraw-opposition |access-date=2023-04-10 |publisher=Asia.nikkei.com}}