The Japanese political system has three types of elections: general elections to the House of Representatives held every four years (unless the lower house is dissolved earlier), elections to the House of Councillors held every three years to choose one-half of its members and local elections held every four years for offices in prefectures, cities and villages.
Elections are supervised by election committees at each administrative level under the general direction of the Central Election Administration Committee.
In Japan representatives are elected to the national parliament the Diet.
The Diet is divided into an upper house (the House of Councillors) and a lower house (the House of Representatives).
The lower house is the more powerful of the two. If the upper house rejects a bill passed by the lower house, it becomes law if passed again by the lower house in a two-thirds vote.
The prime minister is usually a leader of the majority party. The prime minister is the head of the government. To help him direct the government, the prime minister forms a cabinet made up of people who are his political allies.
The House of Representatives in Japan has 500 members, who are elected for a four-year term. Three hundred of these members come from single-seat constituencies, meaning that voters in a given district have one vote and the candidate who receives the most votes wins.
However the remaining 200 members of Japan's House of Representatives are elected by proportional representation in 11 regional blocs. Under a proportional representation system voters in a given region vote not for an individual candidate but for a party.
The number of Diet seats that a party receives is based on the percentage of votes that it receives. Each party gives its seats to its top candidates who are ranked from highest to lowest prior to elections.
The House of Councillors (upper house) has 252 members who are elected for six-year terms. Elections are held for half of all upper house seats every three years.
