# Okinawa 3rd district

Okinawa 3rd district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan (national legislature). It is located in Okinawa Prefecture and encompasses the cities of Nago, Okinawa, Uruma, Kunigami District and parts of Shimajiri District (Iheya and Izena). As of 2016, 312,171 eligible voters were registered in the district.
In 2018 the district was represented by Denny Tamaki of the Liberal Party who automatically forfeited his seat after becoming a gubernatorial candidate in September. The by-election was not held in the immediate by-election slot in October 2018, but only in April 2019 because a Supreme Court decision on the constitutionality of the malapportionment in the last general election to the House of Representatives was still pending. The by-election date was later announced to be 21 April 2019. In the 2019 election, Tomohiro Yara, freelance journalist and strong opponent of the relocation of the Futenma US Marine base, defeated Aiko Shimajiri, former member of the Diet Upper House and minister. However, the 2021 general elections reversed the results. Reportedly, this was due to increased support for the LDP among younger voters because of the party's harder line on China and proactive security policy.

## List of representatives

| Representative | Party | Dates | Notes |
| Kōsuke Uehara | SDP | 1996 – 2000 |
| Mitsuko Tōmon | SDP | 2000 – 2003 |
| Chiken Kakazu | LDP | 2003 – 2009 |
| Denny Tamaki | DPJ | 2009 – 2012 |
| Denny Tamaki | PLF | 2012 |
| Denny Tamaki | TPJ | 2012 |
| Natsumi Higa | LDP | 2012 – 2014 |
| Denny Tamaki | LP | 2014 – 2017 |
| Denny Tamaki | Ind. | 2017 – 2018 | Resigned to run in the 2018 Okinawa gubernatorial election |
| Vacant (September 2018 – April 2019) |||||
| Tomohiro Yara | Ind. | 2019 – 2021 |
| Aiko Shimajiri | LDP | 2021 – |

## Election results

2024 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | ±% |
| | Liberal Democratic | Aiko Shimajiri | |
| | Constitutional Democratic | Tomohiro Yara | |
| | Sanseitō | Tsukasa Shinjō | New |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | |
2021 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democratic | Aiko Shimajiri | 87,710 | 52.14 | 8.63 |
| | Constitutional Democratic | Tomohiro Yara | 80,496 | 47.86 | 8.63 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 54.00 | 10.01 |
| | Liberal Democratic gain from Independent | Liberal Democratic gain from Independent | Liberal Democratic gain from Independent | Liberal Democratic gain from Independent | Liberal Democratic gain from Independent |
2019 by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Tomohiro Yara | 77,156 | 56.49 | 1.37 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Aiko Shimajiri | 59,428 | 43.51 | 3.21 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 43.99 | 10.06 |
| | Independent hold | Independent hold | Independent hold | Independent hold |
2017 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Denny Tamaki | 95,517 | 57.86 | 2.12 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Natsumi Higa (endorsed by Kōmeitō) | 66,527 | 40.30 | 0.27 |
| | Happiness Realization | Tatsurō Kinjō | 3,031 | 1.84 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 28,990 | 17.56 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 54.05 | 3.40 |
| | Independent hold | Independent hold | Swing | 1.20 | |
2014 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | People's Life | Denny Tamaki (endorsed by JCP, SDP, PLP, OSMP, the Greens and Shinfūkai) | 89,110 | 59.97 | 23.91 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Natsumi Higa (elected by PR, endorsed by Kōmeitō) | 59,491 | 40.03 | 3.54 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 29,619 | 19.94 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 50.65 | |
| | People's Life gain from Liberal Democratic | People's Life gain from Liberal Democratic | Swing | 13.73 | |
2012 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democratic | Natsumi Higa (endorsed by NKP) | 68,523 | 43.57 | 19.82 |
| | Tomorrow | Denny Tamaki (elected by PR, endorsed by NPD) | 56,711 | 36.06 | 12.66 |
| | Restoration | Toshio Ōshiro (endorsed by YP) | 12,503 | 7.95 | N/A |
| | Communist | Noboru Miyazato | 10,269 | 6.53 | N/A |
| | Democratic | Hironobu Sakihama | 7,404 | 4.71 | N/A |
| | Happiness Realization | Tatsurō Kinjō | 1,874 | 1.19 | 0.31 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,812 | 7.51 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | | |
| | Liberal Democratic gain from Tomorrow | Liberal Democratic gain from Tomorrow | Swing | 16.24 | |
2009 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Denny Tamaki (endorsed by PNP and OSMP) | 89,266 | 48.72 | 24.76 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Chiken Kakazu (endorsed by NKP) | 43,513 | 23.75 | 18.76 |
| | Social Democratic | Shūsei Arakawa (endorsed by OSMP) | 24,911 | 13.60 | 16.38 |
| | Independent | Tōru Odo | 23,920 | 13.06 | N/A |
| | Happiness Realization | Tatsurō Kinjō | 1,613 | 0.88 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 45,753 | 24.97 | |
| | Democratic gain from Liberal Democratic | Democratic gain from Liberal Democratic | Swing | 21.76 | |
2005 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Liberal Democratic | Chiken Kakazu (endorsed by NKP) | 72,407 | 42.51 |
| Social Democratic | Mitsuko Tōmon (endorsed by OSMP) | 51,074 | 29.98 |
| Democratic | Denny Tamaki | 40,819 | 23.96 |
| Communist | Ken Inohara | 6,043 | 3.55 |
| Liberal Democratic hold | Liberal Democratic hold | Swing | |
2003 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Liberal Democratic | Chiken Kakazu (endorsed by NKP) | 62,975 | 38.5 |
| Social Democratic | Mitsuko Tōmon (elected by PR, endorsed by DPJ and OSMP) | 58,931 | 36.0 |
| Independent | Kōnosuke Kokuba (endorsed by NCP) | 35,149 | 21.5 |
| Communist | Ken Inohara | 6,581 | 4.0 |
| Liberal Democratic gain from Social Democratic | Liberal Democratic gain from Social Democratic | Swing | |
2000 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Social Democratic | Mitsuko Tōmon (endorsed by LL and OSMP) | 68,378 | 33.8 |
| Independents' Club | Kenjirō Nishida | 52,089 | 25.8 |
| Liberal Democratic | Chiken Kakazu (elected by PR, endorsed by NKP and NCP) | 48,622 | 24.1 |
| Democratic | Kōsuke Uehara | 32,917 | 16.3 |
1996 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Social Democratic | Kōsuke Uehara | 80,534 | 47.0 |
| Liberal Democratic | Chiken Kakazu | 45,591 | 26.6 |
| Liberal League | Yoshimasa Takaesu | 24,699 | 14.4 |
| Communist | Maneyoshi Furugen | 20,532 | 12.0 |