Three major parties tonight were running a close race for membership of Japan’s 468-seat House of Representatives trailing far behind. Nine women appeared certain of election.
Scattered nation-wide results from the first postwar election gave the Social Democratic Party in Japan, 25 seats, the Progressives 24 and the Liberals 23. The Communists were certain of only three so far. At least six independents and one People’s Party candidate also were elected. Results still are too incomplete to indicate the final makeup of the House. The Progressives failed to win a seat in Tokyo on the basis of early returns.
(International News Service quoted Allied Headquarters officials as predicting that Russia probably would protest against any winning candidates the Soviets might consider “reactionary.”) Premier Shidehara’s cabinet sparkplug, Chief Secretary Wataru Narahashi, was elected from Fukuoka prefecture on Kyushu. Narahashi immediately announced the Shidehara cabinet would remain in office at least until convocation of the next special Diet session, probably on May 10. The press quoted Narahashi as saying he planned creation of a new political party in Japan, probably a coalition, with Shidehara as its head..
Kyuichi Tokuda, secretary general of the Communist Party, who led a 14-man committee into Shidehara’s office Monday to demand the Premier’s immediate resignation, was one of the Communists definitely elected. Another was party leader Sanni Nosaka, who recently returned from exile in Yenan and was one of the most personally popular of all candidates in Tokyo.
The surprisingly heavy vote cast in Japan’s first democratic election with a total vote of 65 to 70 percent is indicated in Tokyo. If this is equalled by the rest of the nation it would mean 25 million of 36 million eligible voters went to the poll. Fifty percent of the eligible women of Tokyo marked the first ballot which is twice as many as was predicted by Japanese political experts. Mr McMahon Ball, an observer for the Allied Council, who toured the major districts of Tokyo and talked with Japanese election officials, said he vas particularly impressed with the voters’ earnestness.
Here is a shortwave report from Mutuals Don Bell, reported April 9-10, 1946.
