# Okinawa 2nd district

Okinawa 2nd 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 Urasoe and Ginowan, and Nakagami District. As of 2016, 288,070 eligible voters were registered in the district.
The district is represented by Kunio Arakaki of the Social Democratic Party. It is the only Diet single-seat constituency held by the SDP.

## Background

The district was considered a stronghold for veteran Social Democrat Kantoku Teruya, who held the district continuously from 2003 to 2021. Such is the strength of the SDP vote in the district that during the LDP landslides in 2005 and 2012, Teruya still managed to hold the district comfortably. The significant presence of US military bases in Ginowan is regarded as a major factor contributing to the wide aversion of the local population to voting LDP candidates, who are typically pro-base. Teruya retired before the 2021 elections but Kunio Arakaki, the former mayor of Kitanakagusuku, managed to hold the seat for the SDP.
Okinawa-2nd is also one of the few districts that the JCP regularly skips from contesting. The party continuously endorsed Teruya in each election since 2009. Other centre-left parties have also generally refrained from contesting the district and regularly backed Teruya in general elections.

## List of representatives

| Representative | Party | Dates |
| Seiji Nakamura | NFP | 1996 |
| Seiji Nakamura | LDP | 1996 – 2003 |
| Kantoku Teruya | SDP | 2003 – 2021 |
| Kunio Arakaki | SDP | 2021 – |

## Election results

2024 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | ±% |
| | Social Democratic | Kunio Arakaki | |
| | Liberal Democratic | Masahisa Miyazaki endorsed by Kōmeitō) | |
| | Ishin | Noboru Akamine | |
| | Independent | Takashi Hika | |
| | Sanseitō | Asami Konno | New |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | |
2021 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Democratic | Kunio Arakaki | 74,665 | 47.39 | 11.55 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Masahisa Miyazaki (elected by PR, endorsed by Kōmeitō) | 64,542 | 40.96 | 0.10 |
| | Ishin | Yasuhiro Yamakawa | 15,296 | 9.71 | |
| | Anti-NHK | Yukiya Nakamura | 3,053 | 1.94 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 54.82 | 1.24 |
| | Social Democratic hold | Social Democratic hold | Social Democratic hold | Social Democratic hold |
2017 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Democratic | Kantoku Teruya | 92,143 | 58.94 | 3.25 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Masahisa Miyazaki (endorsed by Kōmeitō) | 64,193 | 41.06 | 3.25 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 27,950 | 17.88 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 56.06 | 4.48 |
| | Social Democratic hold | Social Democratic hold | Swing | 3.25 | |
2014 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Democratic | Kantoku Teruya (endorsed by JCP, PLP, OSMP, the Greens and Shinfūkai) | 85,781 | 62.19 | 13.18 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Masahisa Miyazaki (elected by PR, endorsed by Kōmeitō) | 52,156 | 37.81 | 0.89 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 33,625 | 34.38 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 51.58 | |
| | Social Democratic hold | Social Democratic hold | Swing | 6.15 | |
2012 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Democratic | Kantoku Teruya | 73,498 | 49.01 | 12.09 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Masahisa Miyazaki (elected by PR, endorsed by NKP) | 55,373 | 36.92 | 3.45 |
| | Restoration | Toshinori Kinjō (endorsed by YP) | 19,551 | 13.04 | N/A |
| | Independent | Baku Nagai | 1,556 | 1.04 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 18,125 | 12.09 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | | |
| | Social Democratic hold | Social Democratic hold | Swing | 7.77 | |
2009 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Social Democratic | Kantoku Teruya (endorsed by OSMP) | 101,820 | 61.10 | 14.40 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Osamu Ashitomi (endorsed by NKP) | 60,773 | 36.47 | 2.87 |
| | Happiness Realization | Noboru Tomikawa | 4,044 | 2.43 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 41,047 | 24.67 | |
| | Social Democratic hold | Social Democratic hold | Swing | 8.64 | |
2005 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Social Democratic | Kantoku Teruya (endorsed by OSMP) | 71,861 | 46.70 |
| Liberal Democratic | Osamu Ashitomi (elected by PR, endorsed by NKP) | 60,540 | 39.34 |
| Independent | Noboru Shimajiri | 14,617 | 9.50 |
| Communist | Morinobu Nishihira | 6,875 | 4.47 |
| Social Democratic hold | Social Democratic hold | Swing | |
2003 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Social Democratic | Kantoku Teruya (endorsed by DPJ and OSMP) | 74,123 | 55.4 |
| Liberal Democratic | Yoshiji Uehara (endorsed by NKP and NCP) | 47,759 | 35.7 |
| Communist | Norio Maemiya | 6,560 | 4.9 |
| Independent | Kunio Kinjō | 5,297 | 4.0 |
| Social Democratic gain from Liberal Democratic | Social Democratic gain from Liberal Democratic | Swing | |
2000 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Liberal Democratic | Seiji Nakamura (endorsed by NKP and NCP) | 88,544 | 49.3 |
| Democratic | Noboru Shimajiri | 30,970 | 17.3 |
| Liberal League | Hiroshi Kinjō (endorsed by SDP) | 30,946 | 17.2 |
| Communist | Tsuneo Nakanishi | 29,039 | 16.2 |
1996 :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| New Frontier | Seiji Nakamura | 66,421 | 41.3 |
| Okinawa Social Mass | Aichi Nakamoto (endorsed by JCP and NSP) | 51,689 | 32.2 |
| Liberal League | Hiroshi Kinjō | 18,696 | 11.6 |
| Liberal Democratic | Kunio Kinjō | 18,142 | 11.3 |
| NP-Sakigake | Jinichirō Asato (endorsed by DPJ) | 5,801 | 3.6 |