# Kōchi at-large district

The Kochi at-large district (Japanese: 高知県選挙区, Hepburn: Kōchi-ken Senkyoku) was a constituency that represents Kōchi Prefecture in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. Councillors are elected to the house by single non-transferable vote (SNTV) for six-year terms. Since the establishment of the current House of Councillors electoral system in 1947, the district has elected two Councillors, one each at elections held every three years. With its 618,834 registered voters (as of September 2015) it is the third-smallest electoral district for the house. To address the imbalance in representation between districts, a 2015 revision of the Public Officers Election Law will see the district merged with the Tokushima At-large district to create the Tokushima-Kochi At-large district; this change will begin to take effect at the 2016 election, at which one Councillor will be elected.
The Councillors currently representing Kochi are:
* Hajime Hirota (Democratic Party of Japan; term ends in 2016)
* Kojiro Takano (Liberal Democratic Party; term ends in 2019)

## Elected Councillors

| class of 1947 | election year | class of 1950 |
| (1947: 6-year term) | election year | (1947: 3-year term) |
| Kameshichi Nishiyama (Liberal) | 1947 | Tazō Irimajiri (Democratic) |
| Kameshichi Nishiyama (Liberal) | 1950 | Tazō Irimajiri (Liberal) |
| Yutaka Terao (Liberal) | 1953 | Tazō Irimajiri (Liberal) |
| Yutaka Terao (Liberal) | 1956 | Akira Sakamoto (Social Democratic) |
| Yutaka Terao (LDP) | 1959 | Akira Sakamoto (Social Democratic) |
| Yutaka Terao (LDP) | 1962 | Shunji Shiomi (LDP) |
| Yutaka Terao (LDP) | 1965 | Shunji Shiomi (LDP) |
| Yutaka Terao (LDP) | 1968 | Shunji Shiomi (LDP) |
| Takao Hamada (LDP) | 1971 | Shunji Shiomi (LDP) |
| Yu Hayashi (LDP) | 1974 by-election | Shunji Shiomi (LDP) |
| Yu Hayashi (LDP) | 1974 | Shunji Shiomi (LDP) |
| Yu Hayashi (LDP) | 1977 | Shunji Shiomi (LDP) |
| Yu Hayashi (LDP) | 1980 | Kanzo Tanigawa (LDP) |
| Yu Hayashi (LDP) | 1983 | Kanzo Tanigawa (LDP) |
| Yu Hayashi (LDP) | 1986 | Kanzo Tanigawa (LDP) |
| Ruriko Nishioka (Social Democratic) | 1989 | Kanzo Tanigawa (LDP) |
| Ruriko Nishioka (Social Democratic) | 1992 | Sadao Hirano (Ind.) |
| Kohei Tamura (Ind.) | 1995 | Sadao Hirano (Ind.) |
| Kohei Tamura (Ind.) | 1998 | Hiroyuki Morishita (LDP) |
| Kohei Tamura (Ind.) | 2001 | Hiroyuki Morishita (LDP) |
| Kohei Tamura (Ind.) | 2004 | Hajime Hirota (Ind.) |
| Norio Takeuchi (DPJ) | 2007 | Hajime Hirota (Ind.) |
| Norio Takeuchi (DPJ) | 2010 | Hajime Hirota (DPJ) |
| Kojiro Takano (LDP) | 2013 | Hajime Hirota (DPJ) |
| Kojiro Takano (LDP) | 2016 | Seat abolished |
| Seat abolished | 2019 | Seat abolished |
* ↑ Died in office on 23 March 1974
* ↑ Joined the Democratic Party in 2009.

## Election results

2013 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democratic | Kojiro Takano (endorsed by Komeito) | 159,709 | 52.9 |
| | Communist | Yuriko Hamakawa | 72,939 | 24.1 |
| | Democratic | Norio Takeuchi | 65,236 | 21.6 |
| | Happiness Realization | Tsuyoshi Hashizume | 4,268 | 1.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 49.89 |
2010 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Hajime Hirota (Endorsed by People's New Party) | 137,306 | 37.5 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Kojiro Takano | 123,898 | 33.8 |
| | Independent | Kohei Tamura | 56,977 | 15.6 |
| | Communist | Naoaki Haruna | 38,998 | 10.7 |
| | Independent | Toshihisa Fujishima | 8,899 | 2.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 58.49 |
2007 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Norio Takeuchi | 166,220 | 44.7 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Kohei Tamura (endorsed by Komeito) | 154,104 | 41.4 |
| | Communist | Nobuo Murakami | 51,629 | 13.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
2004 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Hajime Hirota (Endorsed by DPJ) | 159,178 | 43.6 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Hiroyuki Morishita (Endorsed by Komeito) | 130,544 | 35.7 |
| | Communist | Sachi Nakane | 52,169 | 14.3 |
| | Independent | Yumiko Matsuoka (Endorsed by SDP) | 23,441 | 6.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |