is a current single-member electoral district for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, the lower house of the

National Diet The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors (, ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It is located in

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

and since 2017 covers roughly the Southern half of Kumamoto. Before 2013, it consisted of a small section of the prefectural capital

(the former towns of Tomiai and Jōnan in today's Minami-ku), the cities of

Amakusa , which means "Heaven's Grass," is a series of islands off the west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. Geography The largest island of the Amakusa group is Shimoshima, which is 26.5 miles long and 13.5 mil ...

Uto Uto, Utö, or Utō may refer to: People Given name * Uto Ughi (born 1944), Italian violinist and conductor * Uto Wunderlich (born 1946), German sports shooter Surname * Datu Uto (died c. 1900), 18th Sultan of Buayan, Mindanao * Fumiaki Uto, Jap ...

Kami-Amakusa is a Cities of Japan, city located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The modern city of Kami-Amakusa was established on March 31, 2004, from the merger of the towns of Himedo, Kumamoto, Himedo, Matsushima, Kumamoto, Matsushima, Ōyano, Kumamoto, � ...

and

Uki Uki or UKI may refer to: *Uki Goñi, writer, journalist and musician *Uki, New South Wales, an Australian town *Uki, Kumamoto, a Japanese city *Uki Island in Solomon Islands * ''Uki'' (TV series), a pre-school animated television programme from Bel ...

and the remaining towns and villages of the former

, Upper ( Kami-Mashiki) and Lower Mashiki ( Shimo-Mashiki) counties. As of September 2012, 294,547 eligible voters were resident in the district. MIC
平成24年9月2日現在選挙人名簿及び在外選挙人名簿登録者数>選挙区ごとの選挙人名簿及び在外選挙人名簿登録者数等
Before 1996, the area had been part of the four-member Kumamoto 2nd district. Representatives had included

Sunao Sonoda was Japanese politician of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who served as minister for foreign affairs and minister of health and welfare. He was called "flying foreign minister" due to his active diplomacy in increasing the role of Japan whe ...

( DPJ→ PDP→

Progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

→ JDP→ LDP, 1947–1984) and his son

Hiroyuki is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Hiroki can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: extensive, good fortune, spacious. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . It is written in hir ...

(LDP→ NPH, 1986–1996). Hiroyuki Sonoda, deputy chief cabinet secretary during the LDP- JSP-NPH coalition, won the new single-member 4th district six times in a row after the electoral reform. In several elections, he was not even challenged by a candidate from the major party of the opposing bloc, exceptions were the initial election of 1996 and the "postal election" of 2005. In 2012, neither of the two established major parties contested the seat. Sonoda's main challenger in 2012, Masayoshi Yagami, had become a Liberal Democrat (JNP→NFP→LDP) when he represented the neighbouring

5th district District 5, 5 District or 5th District may refer to: Europe * District 5 (Zürich) * District 5, Düsseldorf * V District, Turku * Districts of Malta#District 5, District 5, an electoral district of Malta * Districts of Malta#District 5 2, Distric ...

in the 1990s, but became an independent for his two terms as mayor of

Sagara Sagara may refer to: People * Sagara (ethnic group), a people of Tanzania * Sagara (Vedic king), Ikshvaku dynasty * Sagara clan, a clan of 16th century Japan * Sekihotai (Sagara Souzou), a leader of the Sekihotai military unit during the Boshin ...

and his failed run for governor of Kumamoto in 2008.

List of representatives

Election results

References

{{coord missing, Kumamoto Prefecture Kumamoto Prefecture Districts of the House of Representatives (Japan)