Aomori 1st district
Aomori 1st district (青森県第1区, Aomori-ken dai-ikku or simply 青森1区, Aomori-ikku) is a single-member constituency of the House of Representatives in the national Diet of Japan. It is located in Northwestern Aomori and covers the cities of Aomori (without the former town of Namioka), Goshogawara and the East Tsugaru and North Tsugaru counties. As of 2012, 341,876 eligible voters were registered in the district.[1]
Before the introduction of parallel voting and single-member districts, Aomori city and East Tsugaru county had been part of the four-member Aomori 1st district, Goshogawara city and North Tsugaru county were covered by the three-member Aomori 2nd district.
Aomori is a "conservative kingdom", a Liberal Democratic stronghold; but in the landslide 2009 election Hokuto Yokoyama, center-left supported gubernatorial candidate in 2003, could win the 1st district and became the first Democrat to win a district in Aomori by beating Jun Tsushima from the Tsushima writer-politician dynasty from Kanagi town (in present-day Goshogawara). Tsushima had tried to succeed his retiring father, LDP faction leader Yūji Tsushima. Other members of the family included Representative, Councillor and Governor Bunji Tsushima (Seiyūkai/LDP – Aomori), Representative Kichirō Tazawa (LDP – Aomori), Representative Kyōichi Tsushima (LDP/DPJ – Tōhoku), Representative, Peer and Kanagi mayor Gen'emon Tsushima (Seiyūkai – Aomori), Kanagi mayor Eiji Tsushima and writers Shūji Tsushima (Osamu Dazai), Yūko Tsushima, Shizuko Ōta and Haruko Ōta. The second "inheritance" attempt in 2012 was successful.
List of Representatives
Representative |
Party |
Dates |
Notes |
Yūji Tsushima |
| LDP |
1996–2009 |
Retired in 2009 |
Hokuto Yokoyama |
| DPJ |
2009–2012 |
Joined PLF, then TPJ in 2012; failed re-election in the Tōhoku block |
Jun Tsushima |
| LDP |
2012– |
Incumbent |
Election results
2009[3] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
DPJ (PNP support) |
Hokuto Yokoyama |
101,290 |
44.5 |
|
|
Independent (Kōmeitō support) |
Jun Tsushima |
68,910 |
30.3 |
|
|
Independent (Hiranuma group member) |
Sekio Masuta |
35,283 |
15.5 |
|
|
SDP |
Hidehiko Watanabe |
12,847 |
5.6 |
|
|
JCP |
Yō Yoshimata |
7,976 |
3.5 |
|
|
HRP |
Kazuhiro Ueda |
1,483 |
0.7 |
|
Turnout |
231,307 |
66.67 |
|
2005[4] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
LDP |
Yūji Tsushima |
94,072 |
40.4 |
|
|
DPJ |
Hokuto Yokoyama (won PR seat) |
79,323 |
34.1 |
|
|
Independent |
Sekio Masuta |
26,380 |
11.3 |
|
|
Independent |
Tetsukazu Shibutani |
12,636 |
5.4 |
|
|
SDP |
Ryōko Nakaya |
11,521 |
4.9 |
|
|
JCP |
Hiroaki Takayanagi |
8,832 |
3.8 |
|
Turnout |
235,923 |
66.38 |
|
2003[5] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
LDP |
Yūji Tsushima |
81,511 |
39.7 |
|
|
Independent |
Hokuto Yokoyama |
74,799 |
36.4 |
|
|
DPJ |
Tsutomu Herai |
15,736 |
7.7 |
|
|
SDP |
Osami Imamura |
14,123 |
6.9 |
|
|
Independent |
Shun'itsu Matsumori |
12,119 |
5.9 |
|
|
JCP |
Takayuki Hatanaka |
7,010 |
3.4 |
|
Turnout |
208,462 |
58.41 |
|
2000[6] |
Party |
Candidate |
Votes |
% |
±% |
|
LDP |
Yūji Tsushima |
96,691 |
51.4 |
|
|
SDP |
Osami Imamura |
40,706 |
21.6 |
|
|
DPJ |
Tsutomu Herai |
34,645 |
18.4 |
|
|
JCP |
Yukimitsu Hori |
16,094 |
8.6 |
|
References