1979 Japanese General Election
7 October 1979 · The 1955 system · 511 seats, 256 for a majority
General elections were held in Japan on 7 October 1979 to elect the 511 members of the House of Representatives. Prime Minister Ōhira Masayoshi's announcement that a consumption (sales) tax would be imposed was a hot-button issue in the run-up to the election.
Prime Minister before
Masayoshi Ōhira
LDP
Prime Minister (continued)
Masayoshi Ōhira
LDP
Largest force
Liberal Democratic Party
248 of 511 seats
Turnout
68.0%
The result
| Share of the House | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democratic Party | Masayoshi Ōhira | 248 | -1 | 24,084,131 | 44.6% | +2.8 | |
| Japan Socialist Party | Ichio Asukata | 107 | -16 | 10,643,450 | 19.7% | -1.0 | |
| Kōmeitō | Yoshikatsu Takeiri | 57 | +2 | 5,282,683 | 9.8% | -1.1 | |
| Japanese Communist Party | Kenji Miyamoto | 39 | +22 | 5,625,528 | 10.4% | -0.0 | |
| Democratic Socialist Party | Sasaki Ryōsaku | 35 | +6 | 3,663,692 | 6.8% | +0.5 | |
| Independents | — | 19 | -2 | 2,641,064 | 4.9% | — | |
| New Liberal Club | Yōhei Kōno | 4 | -13 | 1,631,812 | 3.0% | -1.2 | |
| Socialist Democratic Federation | Ichio Asukata | 2 | — | 368,660 | 0.7% | -1.0 |