Gunma 4th district

Biographical Overview & Key Facts

Subject:

Gunma 4th district

Role / Field:

A Japanese single-member constituency in Southern Gunma Prefecture.

Database Source:

2Day Chrono-Wiki & Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Origins & Early Life

Gunma 4th district (群馬県第4区, Gunma-ken dai-yon-ku) is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It is located in Southern Gunma and consists of the city of Fujioka, the Southern part of Takasaki city (without the former municipalities of Gunma, Misato, Haruna and Kurabuchi) as well as Kanna town and Ueno village in Tano county. As of 2009, 292,356 eligible voters were registered in the district. Before the electoral reform that took effect in 1996, the area was part of the multi-member Gunma 3rd district that elected four Representatives by single non-transferable vote.

Career & Major Achievements

Gunma is a "conservative kingdom" (hoshu ōkoku), a stronghold of the Liberal Democratic Party, and the pre-1996 multi-seat 3rd district had been home to the families of LDP presidents and Prime Ministers of Japan Yasuhiro Nakasone, Takeo Fukuda and Keizō Obuchi. The new 4th district's first representative was Fukuda's son Yasuo Fukuda (Machimura faction) who was elected LDP president and Prime Minister himself in 2007 over Tarō Asō (Asō faction). In the LDP's landslide defeat in 2009, Fukuda held his seat over Yukiko Miyake, one of the "Ozawa girls", a group of first-time female candidates handpicked by former Democratic Party president Ichirō Ozawa.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Miyake easily won a seat in the Northern Kantō proportional representation block. She followed Ozawa out of the party in 2012 and ran for his Tomorrow Party of Japan in Democratic Party president Yoshihiko Noda's Chiba 4th district where she failed to win even a tenth of the vote, disqualifying her also for potential re-election in the proportional representation bloc. In Gunma 4th district, Yasuo Fukuda retired in 2012 and was safely succeeded by his son Tatsuo.

Chronological Milestones & Life Events

1. 1996: 1996 Milestone — Before the electoral reform that took effect in 1996, the area was part of the multi-member Gunma 3rd district that elected four Representatives by single non-transferable vote.
2. 2007: 2007 Milestone — The new 4th district's first representative was Fukuda's son Yasuo Fukuda (Machimura faction) who was elected LDP president and Prime Minister himself in 2007 over Tarō Asō (Asō faction).
3. 2009: 2009 Milestone — As of 2009, 292,356 eligible voters were registered in the district.
4. 2012: 2012 Milestone — She followed Ozawa out of the party in 2012 and ran for his Tomorrow Party of Japan in Democratic Party president Yoshihiko Noda's Chiba 4th district where she failed to win even a tenth of the vote, disqualifying her also for potential re-election in the proportional representation bloc.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Gunma 4th district

True or False: “The area of the Gunma 4th district was always a single-member constituency for the House of Representatives.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): Before the electoral reform in 1996, this area was part of the multi-member Gunma 3rd district.

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Frequently Asked Questions about Gunma 4th district