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Parties and Candidates

Japan Japan

PC001

Registration requirements for parties (Chamber 1)
Question:What are the registration requirements for political parties running for national elections (Chamber 1)?
Answer(s): e. Minimum number of candidates
f. Other
Comments: An organization which wishes to register as a political party needs to have 5 Diet members or 2% of the total votes in the last election.
Source: Public Offices Election Act, Art. 86, 86-2 and 86-3: https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/detail?lawId=325AC1000000100
Verified: 2019/07/09
(Found a mistake? Please let us know.)
PC003

Registration requirements for candidates (Chamber 1)
Question:What are the legal qualifications to become a candidate at legislative elections (Chamber 1)?
Answer(s): a. Age
b. Citizenship
Comments: Minimum age: 25 years old for the Lower House, 30 years old for the Upper House. The qualifications of members of both Houses and their electors shall be fixed by law. However, there shall be no discrimination because of race, creed, sex, social status, family origin, education, property or income.
Source: Constitution, Art. 44: http://aceproject.org/ero-en/regions/asia/JP/SDOC2815.pdf/view; Public Offices Election Act, Art. 10(1): https://japan.kantei.go.jp/constitution_and_government_of_japan/constitution_e.html
Verified: 2019/07/09
(Found a mistake? Please let us know.)
PC008

Independent candidates
Question:Can independent candidates compete in presidential or legislative elections?
Answer(s): c. In legislative elections (Chamber 1)
d. In legislative elections (Chamber 2)
Comments:
Source: Public Offices Election Act, Art. 86 and 86-4: https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/detail?lawId=325AC1000000100
Verified: 2019/07/09
(Found a mistake? Please let us know.)
PC012

Public funding of parties
Question:Do political parties receive direct/indirect public funding?
Answer(s): b. Direct
c. Indirect
Comments: According to the Political Party Subsidies Act, subsidies, which amount to 250 yen per capita are distributed among parties according to their number of Diet seats and their proportion of the total vote (Articles 7–8). As indirect public funding, candidates or political parties can put an advertisement in newspapers free of charge (article 149). Also, candidates or political parties can express their political views, free of charge, over the radio and the television broadcast(article 150).
Source: Political Party Subsidies Act, Art. 3,4,7 and 8: https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/detail?lawId=406AC0000000005#C; Public Offices Election Act, Art. 149,150, 263 and 264: https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/detail?lawId=325AC1000000100; International IDEA Political Finance Database: https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/political-finance-database
Verified: 2019/07/09
(Found a mistake? Please let us know.)
PC015


Question:What is the basis of the public funding?
Answer(s): a. Equal funding, regardless of size and previous performance
b. Based on result of previous election
c. Based on current legislative representation
Comments: Free public broadcast is available for all candidates. Public subsidies are distributed to the parties in accordance with the number of the seats that each party has and the a party's vote share in the last election.
Source: Public Offices Election Act, Art. 149 and 150: https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/detail?lawId=325AC1000000100 Political Party Subsidies Act, Ch.3: https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/detail?lawId=406AC0000000005#C;
Verified: 2019/07/09
(Found a mistake? Please let us know.)
PC017


Question:Are political parties entitled to private funding?
Answer: a. Yes
Comments: For example, Political Funds Control Act Art. 21 defines that cooperations, unions or other organizations can donate money only to the political parties and the political fund management organizations.
Source: Political Funds Control Act: https://elaws.e-gov.go.jp/search/elawsSearch/elaws_search/lsg0500/detail?lawId=323AC1000000194#357 International IDEA Political Finance Database: https://www.idea.int/data-tools/data/political-finance-database
Verified: 2019/07/09
(Found a mistake? Please let us know.)
The data on this page is continuously updated. Additional, but potentially outdated material is available here.