1983 Japanese general election

General elections were held in Japan on 18 December 1983 to elect the 511 members of the House of Representatives. The voter turnout was 67.94%, the lowest it had ever been in post-war history up to that point, and a low which would not be surpassed until ten years later.

1983 Japanese general election

← 1980 18 December 1983 1986 →
All 511 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan 256 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	67.9% (6.6%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Yasuhiro Nakasone Masashi Ishibashi Yoshikatsu Takeiri Party Liberal Democratic Socialist Kōmeitō Leader since 25 November 1982 7 September 1983 13 February 1967 Last election 47.88%, 284 seats 19.31%, 107 seats 9.03%, 33 seats Seats won 250 112 58 Seat change 34 5 25 Popular vote 25,982,785 11,065,082 5,745,751 Percentage 45.76% 19.49% 10.12% Swing 2.12pp 0.18pp 1.09pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   NLC Leader Sasaki Ryōsaku Tetsuzo Fuwa Seiichi Tagawa Party Democratic Socialist Communist New Liberal Club Leader since 31 July 1982 February 1979 Last election 6.60%, 32 seats 9.83%, 29 seats 2.99%, 12 seats Seats won 38 26 8 Seat change 6 3 4 Popular vote 4,129,907 5,302,485 1,341,584 Percentage 7.27% 9.34% 2.36% Swing 0.67pp 0.49pp 0.63pp   Seventh party   Leader Hideo Den Party Socialist Democratic Leader since 1978 Last election 0.68%, 3 seats Seats won 3 Seat change Popular vote 381,045 Percentage 0.63% Swing 0.05pp
Prime Minister before election Yasuhiro Nakasone Liberal Democratic Prime Minister after election Yasuhiro Nakasone Liberal Democratic

Contrary to pre-election polls by national daily papers which projected a comfortable majority for the LDP, the latter party lost 34 seats compared to the previous election, falling six seats short of the 256 needed for majority control. As a result, the major conservative party was forced to form a majority coalition government for the first time since 1948.^[1] In order to do so, the LDP formed a coalition with the New Liberal Club, a move which JSP leader Masashi Ishibashi called a "betrayal of the electorate."^[2]

It is likely that the LDP's losses resulted in great part due to running too many candidates and thus falling prey to the spoiler effect. The biggest winner among the opposition was Kōmeitō, which saw an increase in terms of both seats as well as the popular vote that exceeded all of the other parties. This election also saw considerable tactical voting cooperation between the Japan Socialist Party, Komeito, Socialist Democratic Federation, and Democratic Socialist Party in various combinations, which resulted in varying levels of success for the opposition, but primarily for Komeito's outcome.^[1]