Tokyo, Sept. 29 (Jiji Press)–The maximum vote-value disparity among single-seat constituencies for Japan’s House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, was 2.275 times, according to the final 2025 national census data released by the internal affairs ministry Tuesday. Forty of the Lower House’s 289 single-seat constituencies had vote-value gaps of at least two times, a level that has been considered a benchmark for determining unconstitutionality by the Supreme Court. The maximum gap was seen between the No. 2 constituency in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, which had the largest population, at 558,760, and the No. 3 constituency in Ishikawa Prefecture, which had the smallest population, at 245,613. The disparity was 2.274 times based on preliminary census data released in May. Meanwhile, 18 constituencies had a vote-value disparity of two times or more relative to the No. 1 constituency in Tottori Prefecture, the smallest constituency in the prefecture with the lowest population per lawmaker in the country. Four constituencies had populations smaller than that of Tottori No. 1. The government’s council on Lower House electoral districts is expected to target the 22 constituencies when revising electoral district boundaries to correct the disparities. The 22 constituencies are located in 13 of the country’s 47 prefectures–Hokkaido, Miyagi, Akita, Ibaraki, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Ishikawa, Aichi, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo and Fukuoka. For the Senate, the upper chamber previously called the House of Councillors, the maximum vote-value disparity was 3.178 times between Tokyo, which had the largest population per Upper House member, at 1,128,647, and Fukui, which had the smallest population, at 355,094. The disparity was 3.189 times based on preliminary census data. The council will meet Wednesday to begin work in earnest on redrawing electoral district boundaries. The council will recommend a revised electoral district plan to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi by May 29, 2027. The government is slated to later submit a bill to revise the electoral district boundaries to the Diet, the country’s parliament. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
