July 12, 2010 08:08 JST (22年07月12日08時08分JST):
http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/LDP Wins Upper House of Counselors --- Renho Landslide Win Retains Her Upper House Seat -- July 12, 2010 JST!The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP (aka: 自民)) of Japan has won the Upper House of Counselors election in Japan, defeating the Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ (aka: 民主)) chance at a super-majority to push policies through. It has been reported that the DPJ are seriously worried about Japan's national debt, currently more than twice that of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and in an effort to lower it pushed a platform of higher income taxes and a hike in the consumption tax (the equivalent of a sales tax) from the current 5% to 10% over a period of time.
The DPJ lost 10 contested seats from 54 to 44---their grand total now sits at 110 seats. The LDP now holds a stronger majority earning a total of 77 seats in the contest---their grand total sits at 132 seats.
Two notable elections were the landslide wins of two (2) women in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area for the DPJ and inside the representative proportion of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
選挙区 東京都 改選5－候補24 （開票率：100%）
Tokyo Metropolitan Area (Five (5) chosen out of twenty-four (24))
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蓮舫（Renho） (42歳) 民主 (DPJ) WINNER
RESULTS: (100% reporting)
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蓮舫 （Renho） (42歳) 民主 (DPJ) 1,710,734 (28.1%) 現
竹谷 とし子 （Takeya Toshiko) (40歳) 公明 (Fairness Party) 806,862 (13.2%) 新
中川 雅治 （Nakagawa Masaharu） (63歳) 自民 (LDP) 711,171 (11.7%) 現
小川 敏夫 （Ogawa Toshio） (62歳) 民主 (DPJ) 696,652 (11.4%) 現
松田 公太 （Matsuda Kouta） (41歳) みんな (Your Party) 656,029 (10.8%) 新
現 Winner (keeps the seat)
新 Winner (new seat)
Renho (蓮舫), who is currently the head of the government's consumer affairs, won by a landslide with over 1.7 Million votes (over 28%), where the runner up of the "Fairness & Justice Party", Takeya Toshiko, winds up with a new seat at over 800,000 votes (over 13%)---there were twenty-four (24) candidates running against her. Five (5) candidates had to be chosen out of the pool of twenty-four (24).
For further results for the remaining candidates in The Tokyo Metropolitan Area, please access this link (Japanese 日本語):
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/sangiin/2010/profile/ye13004.htmSource: 読売新聞 (The Yomiuri Newspaper)
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比例代表 社会民主党
Representative Proportion: Social Democratic Party
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福島 瑞穂（Fukushima Mizuho） (54歳) WINNER
RESULTS: (100% reporting)
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福島 瑞穂 （Fukushima Mizuho） (54歳) 381,554 (60.8%) 現
吉田 忠智 （Yoshida Tadatomo） (54歳) 130,746 (20.8%) 新
保坂 展人 （Hosaka Nobuto） (54歳) 69,214 (11.0%)
原 和美 （Hara Kazumi） (60歳) 38,813 (6.2%)
浅野 隆雄 （Asano Takao） (54歳) 4,523 (0.7%)
大瀬 敬昭 （Oose Noriaki） (47歳) 3,064 (0.5%)
現 Winner (keeps the seat)
新 Winner (new seat)
For the Social Democratic Party, Fukushima Mizuho (福島 瑞穂) keeps her seat with 60% of the votes.
For further results for the remaining candidates in The Social Democratic Party, please access this link (Japanese 日本語):
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/election/sangiin/2010/profile/yb002001.htmSource: 読売新聞 (The Yomiuri Newspaper)
CONCLUSION: Japan's Upper House of Counselors is similar in contrast to the US Senate if one were to breakdown the Japanese government. The country's Lower House---like that of the US House of Representatives---has more political strength than the Upper House, however the Upper House has the power to block many bills from passage, except for treaties and budgets. Unlike the US President, the country's prime minister is not elected by the people, the majority in power elect within their membership whom the prime minister will be, as is the case inside most parliamentary democracies. In the last five (5) years since Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (LDP), the remaining prime ministers lasted approximately one (1) year. Those were Shinzhou Abe (LDP), Yasuo Fukuda (LDP), Taro Aso (LDP), and Yukio Hatoyama (DPJ). Before Koizumi, Yoshirō Mori (LDP) also lasted one (1) year. The current prime minister is Naoto Kan (DPJ).
Surnames were presented last in the previous paragraph.
SAMBA........SUGARLOAF........JUNGLE........PIRANHA.Captain Yuriko Kumage - The Defender of Finance (Ninth article July 12, 2010 08:08 JST)
