# Nagasaki 3rd district

Nagasaki 3rd district (長崎[県第]3区, Nagasaki[-ken dai-]sanku) is a single-member electoral district of the Japanese House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet. It is located in the prefecture of Nagasaki and covers northern parts of the prefecture on the main island of Kyūshū and the Gotō Islands. Most of the population lives in or around the city of Sasebo.

## History

Before the electoral reform of 1994, the area had formed part of the four-member Nagasaki 2nd district. Two of the last representatives from the pre-reform 2nd district, Kazuo Torashima (LDP) and Masahiko Yamada (JRP), contested the new single-member 4th district in 1996. Torashima won, he was appointed defence minister in the 2nd Mori Cabinet in 2000. In the 2003 election, he retired and was succeeded by Yaichi Tanigawa. In the landslide election of 2009, Yamada won the district for the first time. Tanigawa regained the seat in 2012, and held it until he resigned in 2024 due to his involvement in the 2023–2024 Japanese slush fund scandal.
In September 2011, 211,289 eligible voters were registered in Nagasaki 3rd district, giving it the second highest vote weight in the country. Due to reapportionment, Nagasaki lost one seat in 2022 and the boundaries of the district changed significantly. Only Higashisonogi District, the Gotō Islands and a part of Sasebo remained in the 3rd. All other municipalities were transferred to the 3rd from the abolished Nagasaki 4th district.
The former incumbent of the 4th district, Yōzō Kaneko, won the district in 2024. Kaneko is from a long established political family in the area; his father, Genjirō Kaneko, was a Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture and a cabinet minister, and his grandfather, Iwazō Kaneko, was Minister of Agriculture in the First Nakasone Cabinet.

## Area
### Kyūshū Island

* Sasebo
* Hirado
* Matsuura
* Saikai
* Saza Town
* Towns of Higashisonogi District

### Gotō Islands

* Gotō
* Shin-Kamigotō Town
* Ojika Town

## List of representatives

| Election | Representative | Party | Notes |
| 1996 | Kazuo Torishima [ja] | Liberal Democratic | |
| 2000 | Kazuo Torishima [ja] | Liberal Democratic | |
| 2003 | Yaichi Tanigawa | Liberal Democratic | |
| 2005 | Yaichi Tanigawa | Liberal Democratic | |
| 2009 | Masahiko Yamada | Democratic | |
| 2009 | Masahiko Yamada | Tax Cuts Japan | |
| 2009 | Masahiko Yamada | Tomorrow | |
| 2012 | Yaichi Tanigawa | Liberal Democratic | Resigned in 2024 |
| 2014 | Yaichi Tanigawa | Liberal Democratic | Resigned in 2024 |
| 2017 | Yaichi Tanigawa | Liberal Democratic | Resigned in 2024 |
| 2021 | Yaichi Tanigawa | Liberal Democratic | Resigned in 2024 |
| 2021 | Yaichi Tanigawa | Independent | Resigned in 2024 |
| Vacant (January 2024 - April 2024) |||||
| 2024 by-el | Katsuhiko Yamada | CDP | Moved to the 2nd district |
| 2024 | Yōzō Kaneko | LDP | Moved from the 4th district |

## Election results

Note: The decimals stem from anbunhyō, see Elections in Japan.
2024 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | LDP | Yōzō Kaneko | 90,930 | 50.90 |
| | CDP | Seiichi Suetsugu | 68,494 | 38.34 |
| | Ishin | Shōichirō Inoue | 19,217 | 10.76 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 52.93 |
2024 by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | CDP | Katsuhiko Yamada (Endorsed by SDP) | 53,381 | 68.36 | |
| | Ishin | Shōichirō Inoue | 24,709 | 31.64 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 231,747 | 35.45 | |
| | CDP gain from Independent | CDP gain from Independent | CDP gain from Independent | CDP gain from Independent | CDP gain from Independent |
2021 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | LDP | Yaichi Tanigawa (Incumbent) (Endorsed by Komeito) | 57,223 | 40.7 | 19.0 |
| | CDP | Katsuhiko Yamada (Elected to Kyushu PR district) | 55,189.084 | 39.2 | |
| | Independent | Hiroshi Yamada | 25,566.906 | 18.2 | |
| | Reform Party | Hiroyuki Ishimoto | 2,750 | 2.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 114,115 | 60.93 | |
| | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold |
2017 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | LDP | Yaichi Tanigawa Incumbent) (Endorsed by Komeito) | 83,992 | 59.7 | 12.5 |
| | Kibō no Tō | Seiichi Suetsugu | 35,554 | 25.3 | |
| | JCP | Kanji Ishimaru | 12,638 | 9.0 | 18.8 |
| | Ishin | Ryuzo Kuchiishi | 8,469 | 6.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 145,360 | 59.96 | |
| | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold |
2014 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | LDP | Yaichi Tanigawa (Incumbent) (Endorsed by Komeito) | 82,354 | 72.2 | 18.7 |
| | JCP | Kanji Ishimaru | 31,650 | 27.8 | 21.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 123,460 | 51.58 | |
| | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold |
2012 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | LDP | Yaichi Tanigawa (Endorsed by Komeito) | 69,903 | 53.5 | 5.1 |
| | Tomorrow | Masahiko Yamada (elected in Kyūshū proportional) (Endorsed by New Party Daichi) | 52,536 | 40.2 | New |
| | JCP | Kanji Ishimaru | 8,301 | 6.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 63.98 | N/A |
| | LDP gain from Democratic | LDP gain from Democratic | LDP gain from Democratic | LDP gain from Democratic | LDP gain from Democratic |
2009 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Democratic | Masahiko Yamada (Endorsed by PNP) | 79,223 | 49.6 | 2.6 |
| | LDP | Yaichi Tanigawa (elected in Kyūshū proportional) (Endorsed by Komeito) | 77,316 | 48.4 | 4.6 |
| | Happiness Realization | Kiyoto Yamada | 3,263 | 2.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 162,924 | 76.57 | New |
| | Democratic gain from LDP | Democratic gain from LDP | Swing | | |
2005 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | LDP | Yaichi Tanigawa (Incumbent) | 83,992 | 53.0 | 2.7 |
| | Democratic | Masahiko Yamada (elected in Kyūshū proportional) | 74,384 | 47.0 | 0.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 162,422 | 74.71 | |
| | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold |
2003 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | LDP | Yaichi Tanigawa (Incumbent) | 77,528 | 50.3 | 0.5 |
| | Democratic | Masahiko Yamada (elected in Kyūshū proportional) | 71,099 | 46.2 | 27.7 |
| | JCP | Toshiyuki Terada | 5,374 | 3.5 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 157,533 | 72.5 | 0.2 |
| | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold |
2000 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | LDP | Kazuo Torashima | 76,794 | 49.8 | 2.4 |
| | Liberal | Masahiko Yamada (elected in Kyūshū proportional) | 41,995 | 27.2 | New |
| | Democratic | Tadashi Inuzuka | 28,589 | 18.5 | N/A |
| | JCP | Masayoshi Hisano (?, 久野正義) | 5,759 | 3.7 | 1.5 |
| | Liberal League | Kan Nakano (?, 沖野寛) | 1,079 | 0.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | | |
| | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold | LDP hold |
1996 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | LDP | Kazuo Torashima | 79,735 | 52.2 | |
| | New Frontier | Masahiko Yamada | 65,084 | 42.6 | |
| | JCP | Yūji Sasada | 7,883 | 5.2 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 157,516 | 74.29 | |
| | LDP win (new seat) | LDP win (new seat) | LDP win (new seat) | LDP win (new seat) | LDP win (new seat) |