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
	Takagi Masutarō	Independent politician	4,344	16.22	Elected
	Kurahara Korehiro	Yūkōkai	3,295	12.30	Elected
	Hatoyama Kazuo	Rikken Seiyūkai	2,237	8.35	Elected
	Nakano Takenaka	Independent politician	2,106	7.86	Elected
	Ema Shun'ichi	Independent politician	1,712	6.39	Elected
	Inamoto Saburō	Independent politician	1,598	5.97	Elected
	Yamane Masatsugu	Daidō Club	1,493	5.57	Elected
	Matsushita Gunji	Daidō Club	1,386	5.17	Elected
	Miwa Shinjirō	Yūkōkai	1,361	5.08	Elected
	Seki Naohiko	Kensei Hontō	1,300	4.85	Elected
	Watanabe Kanjūrō	Rikken Seiyūkai	1,262	4.71	Elected
	Isobe Shirō	Rikken Seiyūkai	1,207	4.51
	Aoki Shōtarō	Rikken Seiyūkai	1,163	4.34
	Ōishi Kumakichi	Kensei Hontō	916	3.42
	Takanashi Tetsushirō	Rikken Seiyūkai	710	2.65
	Hiyama Tetsusaburō	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
	Takagi Masatoshi	Yūkōkai	3,123	19.52	Elected
	Urushi Shōgan	Rikken Seiyūkai	2,729	17.06	Elected
	Okazaki Kunisuke	Rikken Seiyūkai	2,702	16.89	Elected
	Morikubo Sakuzō	Rikken Seiyūkai	2,500	15.63	Elected
	Murano Tsuneemon	Rikken Seiyūkai	2,465	15.41	Elected
	Nakamura Katsumasa	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

Kyoto City

Candidate		Party	Votes	%	Notes
	Nishimura Jibee	Independent politician	3,352	38.37	Elected
	Kimura Seigo	Independent politician	2,138	24.48	Elected
	Nakayasu Shinzaburō	Independent politician	1,814	20.77	Elected
	Okuno Ichijirō	Rikken Seiyūkai	1,284	14.70
None of the above			147	1.68
Total			8,735	100.00
Valid votes			8,735	99.05
Invalid/blank votes			84	0.95
Total votes			8,819	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			10,780	81.81