==Background==
==Background==
Noda became Prime Minister in August 2011. Among his flagship policies was a plan to raise the [[consumption tax]] from 5% to 10%, which was fiercely opposed by a group of party members led by [[Ichirō Ozawa]] and [[Yukio Hatoyama]], who threatened to split the party over the issue. A week after the passage of the bill through the lower house in late June, Ozawa and 49 other DPJ Diet members resigned from the party.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-18669381|title=Japan’s Ichiro Ozawa quits ruling party over sales tax|date=2 July 2012|website=[[BBC]]}}</ref> A month later, on 10 August, Noda secured agreement from the opposition [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] for the bill’s passage through the upper house. Simultaneously, Ozawa and other minor parties called a [[motion of no confidence]] against Noda in the lower house, which was defeated 246–86 thanks to the abstention of the LDP.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://japandailypress.com/prime-minister-noda-survives-opponents-no-confidence-vote-108788|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822212315/http://japandailypress.com/prime-minister-noda-survives-opponents-no-confidence-vote-108788|archive-date=22 August 2012|date=10 August 2012|title=Prime Minister Noda survives opponents’ no-confidence vote|website=Japan Daily Press}}</ref> Facing a continuing string of defections, pressure to call an election, and with an approval rating under 30%, Noda faced re-election the following month.
Noda became Prime Minister in August 2011. Among his flagship policies was a plan to raise the [[consumption tax]] from 5% to 10%, which was fiercely opposed by a group of party members led by [[Ichirō Ozawa]] and [[Yukio Hatoyama]], who threatened to split the party over the issue. A week after the passage of the bill through the lower house in late June, Ozawa and 49 other DPJ Diet members resigned from the party.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-18669381|title=Japan’s Ichiro Ozawa quits ruling party over sales tax|date=2 July 2012|website=[[BBC]]}}</ref> A month later, on 10 August, Noda secured agreement from the opposition [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] for the bill’s passage through the upper house. Ozawa and other minor parties called a [[motion of no confidence]] against Noda in the lower house, which was defeated 246–86 the .<ref>{{cite web|url=http://japandailypress.com/prime-minister-noda-survives-opponents-no-confidence-vote-108788|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822212315/http://japandailypress.com/prime-minister-noda-survives-opponents-no-confidence-vote-108788|archive-date=22 August 2012|date=10 August 2012|title=Prime Minister Noda survives opponents’ no-confidence vote|website=Japan Daily Press}}</ref> Facing a continuing string of defections, pressure to call an election, and with an approval rating under 30%, Noda faced re-election the following month.
==Candidates==
==Candidates==
==Contest==
==Contest==
Following Ozawa’s secession, senior party leaders sought to reinforce Noda’s leadership to prevent another damaging internal contest. Secretary-general [[Azuma Koshiishi]], policy chief [[Seiji Maehara]], foreign minister [[Kōichirō Genba]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120728/stt12072821270001-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809044241/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120728/stt12072821270001-n1.htm|archive-date=9 August 2012|date=28 July 2012|title=Koshiishi Supports Prime Minister’s Reelection in Democratic Party Leadership Election|lang=ja|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref><ref name=”Maehara”>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120716/stt12071601230002-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809044356/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120716/stt12071601230002-n1.htm|archive-date=9 August 2012|date=16 July 2012|title=Chairman of the Policy Research Council Maehara Intends Not to Run in the Democratic Party Leadership Election; Environment Minister Hosono Also Intends Not to Run; Prime Minister Noda’s Reelection Strengthens|lang=ja|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref> and deputy Prime Minister [[Katsuya Okada]] all called for his re-election.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/news/20120811-OYT1T00924.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813182834/https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/news/20120811-OYT1T00924.htm|archive-date=13 August 2012|date=11 August 2012|title=Okada Supports Prime Minister Noda’s Reelection as Democratic Party Leader|lang=ja|website=[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]}}</ref> Commentators judged that, between Maehara’s support and the departure of many of the “anti-mainstream” members with Ozawa, Noda’s re-election was close to assured.<ref name=”Maehara”/>
Following Ozawa’s secession, senior party leaders sought to reinforce Noda’s leadership to . Secretary-general [[Azuma Koshiishi]], policy chief [[Seiji Maehara]], foreign minister [[Kōichirō Genba]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120728/stt12072821270001-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809044241/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120728/stt12072821270001-n1.htm|archive-date=9 August 2012|date=28 July 2012|title=Koshiishi Supports Prime Minister’s Reelection in Democratic Party Leadership Election|lang=ja|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref><ref name=”Maehara”>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120716/stt12071601230002-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120809044356/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120716/stt12071601230002-n1.htm|archive-date=9 August 2012|date=16 July 2012|title=Chairman of the Policy Research Council Maehara Intends Not to Run in the Democratic Party Leadership Election; Environment Minister Hosono Also Intends Not to Run; Prime Minister Noda’s Reelection Strengthens|lang=ja|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref> and deputy Prime Minister [[Katsuya Okada]] all called for his re-election.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/news/20120811-OYT1T00924.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813182834/https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/news/20120811-OYT1T00924.htm|archive-date=13 August 2012|date=11 August 2012|title=Okada Supports Prime Minister Noda’s Reelection as Democratic Party Leader|lang=ja|website=[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]}}</ref> Commentators judged that, between Maehara’s support and the departure of many of the “anti-mainstream” members with Ozawa, Noda’s re-election was close to assured.<ref name=”Maehara”/>
The scattered anti-Noda groups struggled to find a viable candidate. In early September, there was a strong movement to draft environment minister [[Goshi Hosono]] to challenge Noda. At 41 and with little cabinet experience, he was considered a fresh face who some believed stood a better chance of winning a general election than Noda.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120905/stt12090500560003-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906234459/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120905/stt12090500560003-n1.htm|archive-date=6 September 2012|date=5 September 2012|lang=ja|title=Hosono Hesitant to Run, Not Clearly Supporting Noda|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120903/stt12090318480012-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905074627/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120903/stt12090318480012-n1.htm|archive-date=5 September 2012|date=3 September 2012|lang=ja|title=Is Hosono a likely rival to Prime Minister Noda? Supporting lawmakers attend leadership election briefing|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref> Key supporters included [[Shinji Tarutoko]], [[Junya Ogawa]] from the Maehara faction, [[Takeshi Shina]] formerly from the Ozawa faction, and [[Keisuke Tsumura]] from the Kan faction.<ref name=”Hosono1″>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120906/stt12090607400002-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906054453/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120906/stt12090607400002-n1.htm|archive-date=6 September 2012|date=6 September 2012|lang=ja|title=Environment Minister Hosono to Run in Democratic Party Leadership Election, Becoming a Potential Opponent of Prime Minister Noda|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref> He initially denied any interest in standing,<ref name=”Maehara”/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120831/stt12083111580003-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905175418/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120831/stt12083111580003-n1.htm|archive-date=5 September 2012|date=31 August 2012|lang=ja|title=Environment Minister Hosono “Not Considering” Running for Democratic Party Leadership|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref> but as nominations approached he said on the 5th would have to “seriously consider it”.<ref name=”Hosono1″/> He met with Noda on the 7th and informed him that he would not run after all.<ref name=”Hosono2″>{{cite web|url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/feature/20100806-849918/news/20120907-OYT1T00305.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910054511/http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/feature/20100806-849918/news/20120907-OYT1T00305.htm|archive-date=10 September 2012|date=7 September 2012|lang=ja|title=Hosono Informs the Prime Minister That He Won’t Run… Democratic Party of Japan Leadership Election|website=[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]}}</ref>
The scattered anti-Noda groups struggled to find a viable candidate. In early September, there was a strong movement to draft environment minister [[Goshi Hosono]] to challenge Noda. At 41 and with little cabinet experience, he was considered a fresh face who some believed stood a better chance of winning a general election than Noda.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120905/stt12090500560003-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906234459/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120905/stt12090500560003-n1.htm|archive-date=6 September 2012|date=5 September 2012|lang=ja|title=Hosono Hesitant to Run, Not Clearly Supporting Noda|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120903/stt12090318480012-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905074627/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120903/stt12090318480012-n1.htm|archive-date=5 September 2012|date=3 September 2012|lang=ja|title=Is Hosono a likely rival to Prime Minister Noda? Supporting lawmakers attend leadership election briefing|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref> Key supporters included [[Junya Ogawa]] from the Maehara faction, [[Takeshi Shina]] formerly from the Ozawa faction, [[Keisuke Tsumura]] from the Kan faction.<ref name=”Hosono1″>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120906/stt12090607400002-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906054453/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120906/stt12090607400002-n1.htm|archive-date=6 September 2012|date=6 September 2012|lang=ja|title=Environment Minister Hosono to Run in Democratic Party Leadership Election, Becoming a Potential Opponent of Prime Minister Noda|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref> He initially denied any interest in standing,<ref name=”Maehara”/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120831/stt12083111580003-n1.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905175418/http://sankei.jp.msn.com/politics/news/120831/stt12083111580003-n1.htm|archive-date=5 September 2012|date=31 August 2012|lang=ja|title=Environment Minister Hosono “Not Considering” Running for Democratic Party Leadership|website=[[Sankei Shimbun]]}}</ref> but as nominations approached he said on the 5th would have to “seriously consider it”.<ref name=”Hosono1″/> He met with Noda on the 7th and informed him that he would not run after all.<ref name=”Hosono2″>{{cite web|url=http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/feature/20100806-849918/news/20120907-OYT1T00305.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120910054511/http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/feature/20100806-849918/news/20120907-OYT1T00305.htm|archive-date=10 September 2012|date=7 September 2012|lang=ja|title=Hosono Informs the Prime Minister That He Won’t Run… Democratic Party of Japan Leadership Election|website=[[Yomiuri Shimbun]]}}</ref>
With no unified anti-Noda candidate, three members of the “anti-mainstream” groups ran independently. [[Michihiko Kano]] was nominated by his own faction; [[Hirotaka Akamatsu]] was supported by the party left. [[Kazuhiro Haraguchi]], an opponent of the consumption tax, announced his candidacy on 7 September.<ref name=”Hosono2″/>
With no unified anti-Noda candidate, three members of the “anti-mainstream” groups ran independently. [[Michihiko Kano]] was nominated by his own faction; [[Hirotaka Akamatsu]] was supported by the party left. [[Kazuhiro Haraguchi]], an opponent of the consumption tax, announced his candidacy on 7 September.<ref name=”Hosono2″/>
Political party election in Japan
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Map of the results of the party member vote. |
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The September 2012 Democratic Party of Japan leadership election was held on 21 September 2012. The election in accordance with the end of the presidential term which had commenced in 2010. Incumbent president and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was comfortably re-elected, defeating three opponents.[1][2]
Noda became Prime Minister in August 2011. Among his flagship policies was a plan to raise the consumption tax from 5% to 10%, which was fiercely opposed by a group of party members led by Ichirō Ozawa and Yukio Hatoyama, who threatened to split the party over the issue. A week after the passage of the bill through the lower house in late June, Ozawa and 49 other DPJ Diet members resigned from the party.[3] A month later, on 10 August, Noda secured agreement from the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito for the bill’s passage through the upper house. Ozawa and other minor parties called a motion of no confidence against Noda in the lower house the same day, which was defeated 246–86, with the LDP and Komeito abstaining.[4] Facing a continuing string of defections, pressure to call an election, and with an approval rating under 30%, Noda faced re-election the following month.
Following Ozawa’s secession, senior party leaders sought to reinforce Noda’s leadership to avoid further damage. Secretary-general Azuma Koshiishi, policy chief Seiji Maehara, foreign minister Kōichirō Genba,[5][6] and deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada all called for his re-election.[7] Commentators judged that, between Maehara’s support and the departure of many of the “anti-mainstream” members with Ozawa, Noda’s re-election was close to assured.[6]
The scattered anti-Noda groups struggled to find a viable candidate. In early September, there was a strong movement to draft environment minister Goshi Hosono to challenge Noda. At 41 and with little cabinet experience, he was considered a fresh face who some believed stood a better chance of winning a general election than Noda.[8][9] Key supporters included Junya Ogawa from the Maehara faction, Takeshi Shina formerly from the Ozawa faction, Keisuke Tsumura from the Kan faction, and Shinji Tarutoko from the Kano faction.[10] He initially denied any interest in standing,[6][11] but as nominations approached he said on the 5th would have to “seriously consider it”.[10] He met with Noda on the 7th and informed him that he would not run after all.[12]
With no unified anti-Noda candidate, three members of the “anti-mainstream” groups ran independently. Michihiko Kano was nominated by his own faction; Hirotaka Akamatsu was supported by the party left. Kazuhiro Haraguchi, an opponent of the consumption tax, announced his candidacy on 7 September.[12]
A Sankei Shimbun and Fuji News Network theoretical poll at the start of September found Maehara was the most popular candidate among the public with 18% support. Prime Minister Noda was a close second with 16.1%. Katsuya Okada polled 13.4% and Hosono 3%. Among DPJ supporters, Noda placed first with 31.1%.[13]
Sumio Mabuchi, last-place finisher in the 2011 contest, intended to run but withdrew on 8 September citing the need to unify anti-Noda forces. Mitsuru Sukrai announced on the same day that he was withdrawing due to inability to gather the twenty nominations required to stand.[14] A group of about ten Diet members launched a campaign to support Makiko Tanaka under the name “Group to Produce a Female Prime Minister”,[15] but she stated she would not run and endorsed Noda.[16]
| Candidate | Diet members | Party members & supporters |
Local assembly members |
Diet candidates | Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Points | Votes | % | Points | Votes | % | Points | Votes | % | Points | ||||
| Yoshihiko Noda | 211 | 64.9 | 422 | 70,265 | 65.6 | 296 | 1,026 | 65.8 | 93 | 7 | 87.5 | 7 | 818 | ||
| Kazuhiro Haraguchi | 31 | 9.5 | 62 | 20,693 | 19.3 | 72 | 222 | 14.2 | 20 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 154 | ||
| Hirotaka Akamatsu | 40 | 12.3 | 80 | 9,141 | 8.5 | 24 | 199 | 12.8 | 18 | 1 | 12.5 | 1 | 123 | ||
| Michihiko Kano | 43 | 13.2 | 86 | 6,976 | 6.5 | 17 | 113 | 7.2 | 10 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 113 | ||
| Total | 326 | 100.0 | 650 | 107,075 | 100.0 | 409 | 1,560 | 100.0 | 141 | 8 | 100.0 | 8 | 1,208 | ||
| Invalid | 6 | 3,175 | 19 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Turnout | 331 | 98.5 | 110,250 | 33.7 | 1,579 | 77.8 | 9 | 100.0 | |||||||
| Eligible | 336 | 326,974 | 2,030 | 9 | |||||||||||
| Source: DPJ Archive | |||||||||||||||
