General elections were held in
Japan on 20 November 1960.
[ Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) ''Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II'', p363 ] The result was a victory for the
Liberal Democratic Party, which won 296 of the 467 seats. Voter turnout was 73.5%, the lowest since the
1947 general elections.
Background
The elections came near the end of a turbulent year marked by
violent labour disputes at Mitsui Miike Coal Mine, the
"May 19th Incident" in which
Nobusuke Kishi and LDP lawmakers in the Diet forced the revised
US-Japan Security Treaty through parliament (causing an upsurge in the
Anpo protests), and the assassination of
Japan Socialist Party (JSP) leader
Inejirō Asanuma by ''
wakizashi
The is one of the traditionally made Japanese swords (''nihontō'') worn by the samurai in feudal Japan.
History and use
The production of swords in Japan is divided into specific time periods: ''-wielding right-wing youth named
Otoya Yamaguchi
was a Japanese right-wing ultranationalist youth who assassinated Inejirō Asanuma, chairman of the Japan Socialist Party, on 12 October 1960. Yamaguchi rushed the stage and stabbed Asanuma with a wakizashi short sword while Asanuma was partic ...
. Prior to the elections there were a number of left-wing street protests and right-wing vigilante actions.
Campaign
As public antipathy was largely towards Kishi and his cabinet, rather than flagship LDP policies, the election was not a setback for the party. Kishi's successor,
Hayato Ikeda
was a Japanese bureaucrat and later politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1960 to 1964. He is best known for his Income Doubling Plan, which promised to double Japan's GDP in ten years.
Ikeda is also known for repairing U.S.- ...
, was popular for his moderate attitude and public image as a practical finance minister, and LDP candidates focused heavily on issues such as maintaining
already-strong economic growth. Ikeda made a splash with his promise to double the national income in ten years, known as the "
Income Doubling Plan," which also promised economic benefits such as tax cuts to small businesses, farmers, and consumers.
The LDP also benefitted from factionalism in the JSP, as the more moderate and
anti-communist Democratic Socialist Party seceded from the JSP at the beginning of the year, leading to a
spoiler effect.
Results
Although the LDP saw a small reduction in its vote share compared to the
1958 elections and the JSP and DSP collectively received around 1.3 million more votes than the united JSP did in the 1958 elections, the LDP gained nine seats, while the JSP and DSP lost a net four seats.
By prefecture
References
{{Japanese elections
Japan
1960 elections in Japan
General elections in Japan
November 1960 events in Asia
Election and referendum articles with incomplete results