1986 Japanese general election

1986 Japanese general election

← 1983 6 July 1986 1990 →
All 512 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan 257 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	71.40% (3.46pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Yasuhiro Nakasone Masashi Ishibashi Yoshikatsu Takeiri Party Liberal Democratic Socialist Kōmeitō Last election 45.76%, 250 seats 19.49%, 112 seats 10.12%, 58 seats Seats won 300 85 56 Seat change 50 27 3 Popular vote 29,875,501 10,412,584 5,701,277 Percentage 49.42% 17.23% 9.43% Swing 3.66pp 2.26pp 0.69pp   Fourth party Fifth party   DSP Leader Tetsuzo Fuwa Tsukamoto Saburō Party Communist Democratic Socialist Last election 9.34%, 26 seats 7.27%, 38 seats Seats won 26 26 Seat change 12 Popular vote 5,313,246 3,895,858 Percentage 8.79% 6.44% Swing 0.55pp 0.83pp
Districts shaded according to winners' vote strength
Prime Minister before election Yasuhiro Nakasone Liberal Democratic Elected Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone Liberal Democratic

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General elections were held in Japan on 6 July 1986 to elect the 512 members of the House of Representatives. This marks the last general election as of 2021 in which the LDP was able to obtain at least 300 seats in the House of Representatives, an event that only ever happened once before, in the 1960 election. This general election and 1960's are also tied for the highest number of seats ever obtained by the LDP in a general election, as both saw the LDP winning exactly 300 seats. However, the House of Representatives had fewer total seats in 1960, and so the popular vote for the LDP was actually stronger in 1960. Nonetheless, the 1986 general election also stands as the fourth strongest LDP showing in a general election in terms of the popular constituency votes. The result would not be matched until the Democratic Party of Japan's landslide showing in the 2009 Japanese general election narrowly beat it.

Opposition parties across the board saw seat losses and popular vote losses alongside it, with the lone exceptions being the Japanese Communist Party, which plateaued in its seat count, and the minor Socialist Democratic Federation, which gained a single seat. The biggest losses were in the Japan Socialist Party, which saw its decreasing popular vote numbers continued, alongside losing 27 seats. The DSP also saw a 12-seat loss, which took its representative number back down to 26 seats. Kōmeitō saw a small seat loss of three, and the New Liberal Club, which had been in coalition with the Second Nakasone Cabinet, lost two seats.