Japanese general election, 1942

The 21st General Election of Japan of the House of Representatives took place in Japan on April 30, 1942. It was the only election in wartime Japan. At this time, the lower house no longer had any significant executive and legislative power, and power went to the military since 1936. The prime minister was not elected from the lower house since 1932, and was also appointed by the military.

Overview

In 1940, all political parties were forced to merge into the Taisei Yokusankai, a pro-military organization headed by former prime minister Nobuyuki Abe. Fascist party Touhou Party broke away from the Taisei Yokusankai and turned against prime minister Hideki Tojo. Among those against the ruling Tojo military Cabinet, only the Touhou Party was allowed to run in the election as non-partisans. Among those anti-war and neutral politicians, the comparatively mild politicians successfully ran as non-partisans too. Some of those "independents" who failed to gain a seat was expelled. Those "independents" and expelled politicians were mainly the ruling class after the war. As communist groups, left-wing groups, and anti-war groups were illegal since 1940, they were unable to name a candidate in the election, communists, left-wing politicians and radical anti-military politicians were arrested and even not allowed to run as independents. Besides, anti-war politician Saiitou Takao(斎藤隆夫) who was expelled from the diet in 1941 was re-elected again.

The Tojo Cabinet marked those independent congressmen elected who were not Taisei Yokusankai members as "Non-Taisei Yokusankai" in the official result.

The turnout of the election was strangely high, with a turnout of 83.16%. Suffrage has not yet been extended to women in Japan at this time, and many citizens were forced to vote.Fact|date=February 2007

Results

The Taisei Yokusankai won 381 seats out of the total 466. In some districts, the Taisei Yokusankai candidates won uncontested. However, while the Imperial Army had gained a victory in almost every battle as of the election, public support for the war was still quite high, which was the main reason for the landslide victory of the Taisei Yokusankai. Turnout in the election was 83.16%.