2. The 2024 Election Results: A Political Earthquake

The general election held on October 27, 2024, delivered a political earthquake. The ruling LDP-Kōmeitō coalition significantly decreased its seats and lost a majority that it had maintained since 2012. Although the LDP’s vote loss occurred in most parts of the country, its single-member district (SMD) candidates who faced a centrist party opponent lost more votes than others. While the largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party, made significant gains in its seat share, its vote share remained almost unchanged. The party was able to flip many SMD seats without increasing its votes due to LDP candidates' vote losses. The CDP continues to struggle in appealing to centrist voters, who in this election bolstered the Democratic Party for the People (DPP). The DPP effectively utilized social media platforms to advocate economic policies targeted at young voters, and its proportional representation (PR) vote share more than tripled compared to the last election. With the two largest parties both struggling, Japan’s party system is not converging toward a stable structure of party competition.