Tochigi 3rd district

Tochigi 3rd district (栃木[県第]3区 Tochigi[-ken dai-]san-ku) is a single-member electoral district for the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. Located in north-eastern Tochigi, it covers the cities of Ōtawara, Yaita, Nasushiobara, Nasukarasuyama and the towns of Nasu and Nakagawa in Nasu County. As of September 2011, 247,284 eligible voters were registered in Tochigi 3rd district, giving it well above average (347,878 voters per district) vote weight.[1]

Since the introduction of first-past-the-post single-member districts, the only representative from Tochigi 3rd district has been former Liberal Democrat Yoshimi Watanabe who founded Your Party (Minna no Tō, lit. "Everyone's Party") in 2009. In that year, the established parties did not even contest the seat. The only challenger the Democratic Party ever nominated has been Takashi Kobayashi in 2005. In the first three elections, only the left-wing parties contested the seat.

Before the electoral reform, the area had been part of the five-member 1st district. Representatives from the 1st district had included Watanabe's father Michio who died in 1995.

List of representatives

Representative	Party		Dates	Notes
Yoshimi Watanabe		LDP	1996–2009
		YP	2009–2014
Kazuo Yana		LDP	2014–present

Election results

2012[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	YP	Yoshimi Watanabe	84,023	60.3
	LDP (NK)	Kazuo Yana (elected by PR)	48,912	35.1
	JCP	Yukiko Akiyama	6,509	4.7

2009[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	YP	Yoshimi Watanabe	142,482	95.3
	HRP	Katsumi Saitō	7,024	4.7
Turnout			160,021	64.73

2005[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LDP	Yoshimi Watanabe	98,889	64.0
	DPJ	Takashi Kobayashi	41,776	27.0
	SDP	Mutsuko Yamaguchi	6,346	4.1
	JCP	Shōzō Maki	5,905	3.8
	Independent	Susumu Saitō	1,618	1.0
Turnout			158,777	64.81

2003[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LDP	Yoshimi Watanabe	100,539	74.9
	JCP	Shōzō Maki	24,515	18.3
	SDP	Masaki Matsunaga	9,186	6.8
Turnout			140,709	58.02

2000[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LDP	Yoshimi Watanabe	112,358	83.4
	JCP	Shōzō Maki	22,392	16.6

1996[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LDP	Yoshimi Watanabe	90,082	83.4
	JCP	Shōzō Maki	17,990	16.6
Turnout			117,560	51.57

References

1. Ministry of general affairs: 平成24年9月2日現在選挙人名簿及び在外選挙人名簿登録者数 (in Japanese)
2. 総選挙2012>開票結果　小選挙区　栃木. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-02-08.
3. 第45回衆議院議員選挙 - 栃木3区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). Heartbeats Corp. Retrieved 2012-11-20. External link in |work= (help)
4. 第44回衆議院議員選挙 - 栃木3区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). Heartbeats Corp. Retrieved 2012-11-20. External link in |work= (help)
5. 第43回衆議院議員選挙 - 栃木3区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). Heartbeats Corp. Retrieved 2012-11-20. External link in |work= (help)
6. 第42回衆議院議員選挙 - 栃木3区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). Heartbeats Corp. Retrieved 2012-11-20. External link in |work= (help)
7. 第41回衆議院議員選挙 - 栃木3区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). Heartbeats Corp. Retrieved 2012-11-20. External link in |work= (help)