2015 Democratic Party of Japan leadership election

Political party election in Japan 2015 Democratic Party leadership election Democratic Party of Japan Logo.svg legislative Caucus no December 2012 Democratic Party of Japan leadership election Dec 2012 2016 Democratic Party (Japan, 2016) leadership election 2016 18 January 2015 First round points Runoff points Okada Katsuya Daijin 1.jpg 120 120 150 0 0 Katsuya Okada Mie 3rd C03F50 294 (38.7%) 133 (52.6%) Goshi Hosono Minshu IMG 5474 20130707 (cropped).JPG 120 120 150 0 0 Goshi Hosono Shizuoka 5th C7AB56 298 (39.2%) 120 (47.4%) Akira Nagatsuma cropped Akira Nagatsuma 201006.jpg 120 120 150 0 0 Akira Nagatsuma Tokyo 7th BF5E9F 168 (22.1%) Eliminated 300px Map of the results of the party member vote. President Banri Kaieda Katsuya Okada The 2015 Democratic Party of Japan presidential election was held on 18 January 2015. The election was held to replace outgoing president Banri Kaieda, who resigned after losing his seat in the December 2014 general election.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/07/national/politics-diplomacy/dpj-leadership-campaign-begins-three-candidates-running/#.VMJoQS4sIYs DPJ leadership campaign begins, with three candidates running Aoki Mizuho The Japan Times Katsuya Okada was victorious in a close contest with Goshi Hosono after two rounds of voting, returning to the position he held from 2004 until 2005.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/18/national/politics-diplomacy/okada-defeats-hosono-win-dpj-leadership-election/ Okada defeats Hosono to win DPJ presidential election Aoki Mizuho Yoshida Reiji 18 January 2015 The Japan Times Background Banri Kaieda was chosen as president after the DPJ's landslide loss in the December 2012 election. The party fared equally poorly in the July 2013 upper house elections. In December 2014, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called a snap election for the lower house for 14 December. The result was largely a repeat of the 2012 landslide, with the DPJ making only a marginal recovery. Kaieda, who stood in the Tokyo 1st district, lost to incumbent Miki Yamada and also failed to retain his seat in the Tokyo PR block, thus being ejected from the Diet. He announced his resignation as party president the following day.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/15/national/politics-diplomacy/kaieda-quits-dpj-chief-humiliating-ejection-diet/#.VI90MNTP1qY https://web.archive.org/web/20141215235205/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/15/national/politics-diplomacy/kaieda-quits-dpj-chief-humiliating-ejection-diet/#.VI90MNTP1qY 15 December 2014 15 December 2014 Kaieda quits as DPJ chief after humiliating ejection from Diet Aoki Mizuho Yoshida Reiji The Japan Times Electoral system On 17 December, the party executive announced that the comprehensive points-based election procedure would be used to select the new president. This marked the first time this method had been used to fill a vacancy resulting from the resignation of a president.https://www.dpj.or.jp/article/105866/%E6%B0%91%E4%B8%BB%E5%85%9A%E4%BB%A3%E8%A1%A8%E9%81%B8%E6%8C%99%E3%81%AE%E5%AE%9F%E6%96%BD%E3%81%AB%E3%81%A4%E3%81%84%E3%81%A6%EF%BC%88%E5%85%AC%E5%91%8A%EF%BC%89 Regarding the Democratic Party of Japan Presidential Election (Announcement) 17 December 2014 ja Democratic Party of Japan Candidates were required to gather endorsements from twenty (maximum 25) of the party's members of the National Diet in order to stand. The election was conducted via a points system: Each of the party's members of the National Diet had a vote worth two points. (264 points total) Registered party members (toin, paying a 6,000 yen annual fee) or supporters (2,000 yen annual fee) could vote via mail if they had been registered by 30 June 2014. Points for this tier were distributed between the 47 prefectures, and awarded to candidates in proportion to votes won in each prefecture. (354 points total) Each of the party's members of local councils or prefectural assemblies could vote via mail. Points for this tier were awarded to candidates in proportion to votes won. (141 points total) Each of the party's approved candidates for future Diet elections had a vote worth one point. In this election, only Daigo Matsuura (approved for Akita in the House of Councillors) qualified. (1 point total) In order to win, a candidate must secure more than 50% of points. If no candidate won more than 50%, a runoff was to be held the same day. In the runoff, only Diet members and approved candidates could vote. Nominations were taken on 7 January and the election held on the 18th. About 200,000 registered supporters and 30,000 toin members were eligible to vote. This was the first DPJ presidential election where the votes of grassroots members outweighed those of the Diet caucus.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/29/reference/dpj-presidential-race-focus-party-regroups/#.VKnIPtTP1qY https://web.archive.org/web/20150104230930/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/29/reference/dpj-presidential-race-focus-party-regroups/#.VKnIPtTP1qY 4 January 2015 29 December 2014 Yoshida Reiji DPJ presidential race in focus as party regroups The Japan Times Candidates Candidate Offices held 100x100px Goshi Hosono(age 43)Shizuoka Prefecture Member of the House of Representatives (2000–)Minister of the Environment (2011–12) 100x100px Katsuya Okada(age 61)Mie Prefecture Member of the House of Representatives (1990–)President of the Democratic Party of Japan (2004–05)Minister for Foreign Affairs (2008–09) 100x100px Akira Nagatsuma(age 54)Tokyo Member of the House of Representatives (2000–)Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare (2009–10) Sponsors Katsuya Okada (25) Goshi Hosono (25) Akira Nagatsuma (25) House of Representatives Tomoko Abe Jun Azumi Hirofumi Hirano Yōsuke Kondō Kazuko Kōri Takahiro Kuroiwa Masaharu Nakagawa Chinami Nishimura Yoshihiko Noda Mitsunori Okamoto Soichiro Okuno Koichi Takemasa Manabu Terata Kiyomi TsujimotoHouse of Councillors Shinya Adachi Tetsuro Fukuyama Toshimi Kitazawa Masao Kobayashi Kiyoshige Maekawa Masayuki Naoshima Katsuya Ogawa Tsutomu Okubo Renhō Hirokazu Shiba Mitsuyoshi Yanagisawa House of Representatives Nobuyuki Fukushima Kenta Izumi Toru Kikawada Sumio Mabuchi Jin Matsubara Takeaki Matsumoto Takeshi Miyazaki Akihisa Nagashima Rintaro Ogata Junya Ogawa Kensuke Onishi Takako Suzuki Issei Tajima Eiichiro Washio Shiori YamaoHouse of Councillors Yuichiro Hata Toshiyuki Kato Hiroe Makiyama Motohiro Ōno Kohei Otsuka Mitsuru Sakurai Kazuya Shimba Yataro Tsuda Minoru Yanagida Misako Yasui House of Representatives Hirotaka Akamatsu Akio Fukuda Shoichi Kondo Katsuhito Nakajima Akihiro Ohata Takahiro Sasaki Takashi Shinohara Kaname Tajima Kazunori YamanoiHouse of Councillors Kumiko Aihara Yoshifu Arita Kenzo Fujisue Yukihisa Fujita Michihiro Ishibashi Mieko Kamimoto Naoki Kazama Takeshi Maeda Teruhiko Mashiko Shunichi Mizuoka Masayoshi Nataniya Kuniyoshi Noda Toshio Ogawa Kusuo Oshima Kaoru Tashiro Eri Tokunaga Withdrew Takashi Shinohara, member of the House of Representatives (2003–) – (endorsed Nagatsuma) Renhō, member of the House of Councillors (2004–) and Minister of State for Government Revitalization (2010–12) – (endorsed Okada) Mitsuru Sakurai, member of the House of Councillors (1998–) – (endorsed Hosono) Declined Seiji Maehara, member of the House of Representatives (1993–), former President of the Democratic Party of Japan (2005–06) and Minister for Foreign Affairs (2010–11) Contest Goshi Hosono, who served as environment minister from 2011 to 2012 and oversaw the cleanup of the Fukushima nuclear accident, was the first to declare his candidacy. Former president and policy expert Katsuya Okada, a longtime party senior, announced his run on 25 December. Former labour minister Akira Nagatsuma declared his candidacy on the 29th. The campaign revolved around how to rebuild the party, which had failed to recover in the two years since its 2012 defeat. Okada opined that "this could be the last chance for the DPJ to regain power," and advocated for stricter party discipline.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/25/national/politics-diplomacy/former-leader-okada-seek-dpjs-presidency/#.VKB66A3ZA https://web.archive.org/web/20141228214919/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/12/25/national/politics-diplomacy/former-leader-okada-seek-dpjs-presidency/#.VKB66A3ZA 28 December 2014 25 December 2014 Former leader Okada to seek DPJ’s presidency again Aoki Mizuho The Japan Times A key question concerned relations with the Japan Innovation Party. Members of the party right such as Seiji Maehara advocated for a merger to strengthen the opposition, but the parties' conflicting policies, such as the JIP's strongly conservative stances and opposition to trade unions, were controversial. Hosono, who had voiced his openness to the idea prior to the election, took a more critical view during the campaign. Okada stated that a merger was impossible in the near term, but endorsed legislative and electoral cooperation.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/12/19/editorials/can-the-opposition-mend-its-ways/#.VTFwhNTP1qY https://web.archive.org/web/20150417204341/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/12/19/editorials/can-the-opposition-mend-its-ways/#.VTFwhNTP1qY 17 April 2015 19 December 2014 Can the opposition mend its ways? The Japan Timeshttps://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/07/national/politics-diplomacy/dpj-leadership-campaign-begins-three-candidates-running/#.VK5km9TP1qY https://web.archive.org/web/20150108110546/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/07/national/politics-diplomacy/dpj-leadership-campaign-begins-three-candidates-running/#.VK5km9TP1qY 8 January 2015 7 January 2015 DPJ leadership campaign begins, with three candidates running Aoki Mizuho The Japan Times Okada was supported by senior party members and veterans including Jun Azumi, Kōichirō Genba, and Yukio Edano. Hosono was backed by the party's conservative wing and was seen as the candidate of generational change and reform; he received support from Yuichiro Hata, Akihisa Nagashima, and Takeaki Matsumoto.https://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/57602 The Democratic Party's mudslinging between Okada and Hosono has begun. Latecomer Okada attacks Hosono. 9 January 2015 ja Toyo Keizai Akira Nagatsuma was supported by the former JSP members around Hirotaka Akamatsu and took a progressive tack, declaring that "the only way to expand the party's influence is to raise the flag of liberalism."https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/01/08/editorials/a-crucial-test-for-the-dpj/#.VLF6bdTP1qY https://web.archive.org/web/20150110191539/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/01/08/editorials/a-crucial-test-for-the-dpj/#.VLF6bdTP1qY 10 January 2015 8 January 2015 A crucial test for the DPJ The Japan Timeshttp://mainichi.jp/select/news/20141230k0000m010050000c.html Democratic Party Leadership Election: Nagatsuma Announces Candidacy, Supported by Liberal Forces 29 December 2014 ja Mainichi Shimbun 30 October 2025 1 January 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20150101045722/http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20141230k0000m010050000c.html bot: unknown Hosono supported the principle of collective self-defense. Okada suggested he could accept it "if we can find a way to limit it", while Nagatsuma was opposed. Hosono and Okada called for the government to draft robust safety plans when restarting nuclear power plants, while Nagatsuma opposed restarts altogether. All three candidates criticised Abenomics, accusing it of worsening inequality, but remained vague on an alternative vision.http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=201501/2015010800889&g=pol https://web.archive.org/web/20150108184932/http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=201501/2015010800889&g=pol 8 January 2015 8 January 2015 Okada is open to collective self-defense, Hosono is positive, Nagatsuma is opposed - Comparing the policies of the three candidates in the Democratic Party leadership election Jiji Press All three candidates advocated for increasing representation of women in the party's Diet ranks, including implementing quotas.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/15/national/politics-diplomacy/dpj-presidential-candidates-vow-increase-female-ranks-diet/#.VYjAh9TP1qY https://web.archive.org/web/20150623021204/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/15/national/politics-diplomacy/dpj-presidential-candidates-vow-increase-female-ranks-diet/#.VYjAh9TP1qY 23 June 2015 15 January 2015 Aoki Mizuho DPJ presidential candidates vow to increase female ranks in Diet The Japan Times Takashi Shinohara had planned to run but withdrew and endorsed Nagatsuma when he announced his candidacy. Renhō also intended to run, but withdrew on 30 December citing a lack of support.http://www.zakzak.co.jp/society/politics/news/20141231/plt1412311145001-n1.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20150102214818/http://www.zakzak.co.jp/society/politics/news/20141231/plt1412311145001-n1.htm 2 January 2015 31 December 2014 ja Renho withdraws from running for the Democratic Party leadership election, unable to secure sponsors ZakZak Mitsuru Sakurai withdrew for the same reason on the 31st and endorsed Hosono.http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/20150101-OYT1T50014.html https://web.archive.org/web/20150103214056/http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/20150101-OYT1T50014.html Sakurai Drops Candidacy for Democratic Party of Japan Leadership Election...To Support Hosono 3 January 2015 1 January 2015 ja Yomiuri Shimbun Kyodo News conducted a poll on 24–25 December which showed 17.0% of the public supported Okada as leader compared to 14.6% for Hosono. Among DPJ supporters, Hosono was ahead on 23.7% vs 21.3% for Okada.https://www.bloomberg.co.jp/news/articles/2014-12-30/NHDHCM6JTSEL01 Hosono: Honing his leadership skills before the Kennedy portrait - Determined to run in the Democratic Party leadership election 30 December 2014 ja Bloomberg News An Asahi Shimbun poll from 11–12 January found 32% preferred Hosono as leader, compared to 28% for Okada and 13% for Nagatsuma.https://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/hst_archive/poll/201501/index.html January 2015 Survey 30 October 2025 ja Asahi Shimbun A Yomiuri Shimbun poll from the same time found 32% for Okada, 30% for Hosono, and 16% for Nagatsuma.https://news.livedoor.com/article/detail/9664483/ Democratic Party Leadership Election: Katsuya Okada Leads, Goshi Hosono Puts Up a Good Fight 12 January 2015 ja Livedoor A Jiji Press survey of Diet members on 11 January showed 44 in support of Hosono, 43 for Okada, and 31 for Nagatsuma. Results The first round was a very close two-way race between Hosono and Okada, with Nagatsuma trailing in third. Hosono received one more vote from Diet members than Okada, and held a strong lead among local council and assembly members. In the membership vote, he also lead by about 500 votes (0.5%), but the more efficient distribution of Okada's vote resulted in a reversal, with the latter winning 148 points to Hosono's 139. Nagatsuma won 20.5% and 67 points among the membership.http://www.sankei.com/politics/news/150118/plt1501180029-n2.html https://web.archive.org/web/20150120093529/http://www.sankei.com/politics/news/150118/plt1501180029-n2.html 20 January 2015 18 January 2015 New Democratic Party Leader Okada Wins with Diet Members Sankei Shimbun In the membership vote, Hosono performed best in his home prefecture of Shizuoka, as well as Iwate, Gifu, and much of Kansai. He placed first in Tokyo and won a majority in Kanagawa. Okada won 94% and all six points in his home prefecture of Mie and performed strongly in Chiba, Osaka, Chūgoku, Tōhoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu. Nagatsuma performed best in Tochigi, Hokkaido, and Ibaraki prefectures. Overall, Hosono won 298 points (39.2%) to Okada's 294 (38.7%) and Nagatsuma's 168 (22.1%). A runoff was thus held to choose a winner. Okada emerged victorious by a narrow margin of 133 to 120, winning support from 66 Diet members compared to Hosono's 60. The Mainichi Shimbun reported that a majority of Nagatsuma's supporters backed Okada in the runoff.http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20150118k0000e010143000c.html https://web.archive.org/web/20150118162040/http://mainichi.jp/select/news/20150118k0000e010143000c.html 18 January 2015 18 January 2015 ja Democratic Party Leadership Election: Okada Elected as New Leader, Emphasizing Partywide Unity Mainichi Shimbun First round Candidate Diet members Party members& supporters Local assemblymembers Diet candidates Total Votes % Points Votes % Points Votes % Points Votes % Points Goshi Hosono 48 36.4 96 41,563 40.0 139 649 44.3 63 0 0.0 0 298 39.21 C7AB56 Katsuya Okada 47 35.6 94 41,079 39.5 148 532 36.3 51 1 100.0 1 294 38.68 C03F50 Akira Nagatsuma 37 28.0 74 21,348 20.5 67 284 19.4 27 0 0.0 0 168 22.11 BF5E9F Total 132 100.0 264 103,990 100.0 354 1,465 100.0 141 1 100.0 1 760 Invalid 0 523 2 0 Turnout 132 100.0 104,513 46.2 1,467 90.1 1 100.0 Eligible 132 226,148 1,629 1 Source: Democratic Party of Japan Runoff Candidate Diet members Diet candidates Total Votes % Points Votes % Points Katsuya Okada 66 52.4 132 1 100.0 1 133 52.57 C03F50 Goshi Hosono 60 47.6 120 0 0.0 0 120 47.43 C7AB56 Total 126 100.0 252 1 100.0 1 253 Invalid 2 0 Turnout 128 97.0 1 100.0 Eligible 132 1 Source: Democratic Party of Japan References External links Democratic Party: Past elections for the party presidency https://web.archive.org/web/20141218001052/http://www1.dpj.or.jp/governance/election/index.html 2014-12-18 The Senkyo, election dictionary: Democratic Party presidential electionsApril 2019 InternetArchiveBot yes Category:2015 elections in Japan Category:Democratic Party of Japan leadership elections Category:January 2015 in Japan Democratic Party (Japan, 1998) leadership election