Voter Turnout Rises to 58 Pct in Japan Upper House Election

   Tokyo, July 21 (Jiji Press)--The voter turnout for Sunday's House of Councillors election in Japan was 58.51 pct, up 6.46 percentage points from the previous Upper House poll in 2022, the internal affairs ministry said Monday.
   The country posted a voter turnout exceeding 55 pct in an Upper House election for the first time since 2010, when the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan was in power.
   In Sunday's election, the voter turnout topped the 2022 levels in all of Japan's 47 prefectures and surpassed 60 pct in 12 of them.
   The highest figure by prefecture was 62.55 pct marked by Yamagata, while the lowest was Tokushima's 50.48 pct. In Tottori, the political home base of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the turnout was 55.04 pct, placing the prefecture 41st.
   The ministry also said that the number of early voters in the election increased by over 30 pct from the 2022 level to 26,182,089, hitting a record high for national elections including for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber.

(2025/07/21-16:29)

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