# Niigata at-large district

The Niigata at-large district (Japanese: 新潟県選挙区, Hepburn: Niigata-ken senkyoku) is a constituency that represents Niigata Prefecture in the House of Councillors in the Diet of Japan. Since July 2019, it has two Councillors in the 242-member house, a decrease from its previous contingent of 3. Similar to other rural two seat districts in Northern Japan such as the Iwate at-large district, it often shows a willingness to buck the LDP and instead vote for opposition backed candidates, such as in 2019. Nonetheless, the LDP won the district by six points in the 2022 elections, and Uchikoshi only won by a margin of four points.

## Outline

The constituency represents the entire population of Niigata Prefecture and has 1,925,565 registered voters as of September 2015. Since the first House of Councillors election in 1947 Niigata has elected four Councillors to six-year terms, two at alternating elections held every three years. The district's number of voters is the third-lowest of the 10 prefectures that are represented by four Councillors; by comparison, the Hokkaido, Hyogo at-large district and Fukuoka districts each have more than 4 million voters but are represented by the same number of Councillors as Niigata. To address this malapportionment in representation, a 2015 revision of the Public Officers Election Law decrease the representation of Niigata, Miyagi and Nagano districts to two Councillors while increasing Hyogo, Hokkaido and Fukuoka districts to six Councillors. This change took effect at the 2016 election, after which time, Niigata will elect only one Councillor during every election.
The Councillors currently representing Niigata are:
* Kazhiro Kobayashi (LDP, first term; term ends in 2028)
* Sakura Uchikoshi (CDP, first term; term ends in 2025)

## Elected Councillors

| Class of 1947 | Class of 1947 | Election year | Class of 1950 (1947: 3-year term) | Class of 1950 (1947: 3-year term) |
| Bunkichi Tamura (Ind.) | Kyōhei Shimojō (Social Democratic) | 1947 | Kazuo Kitamua (Liberal) | Yoshio Fujita (Ind.) |
| Bunkichi Tamura (Ind.) | Kyōhei Shimojō (Social Democratic) | 1950 | Kazuo Kitamura (Liberal) | Toshiei Kiyosawa (Social Democratic) |
| Bunkichi Tamura (Ryokufūkai) | Yaheiji Saikawa (Liberal) | 1953 | Kazuo Kitamura (Liberal) | Toshiei Kiyosawa (Social Democratic) |
| Bunkichi Tamura (Ryokufūkai) | Yaheiji Saikawa (Liberal) | 1955 by-election | Makie Koyanagi (LDP) | Toshiei Kiyosawa (Social Democratic) |
| Bunkichi Tamura (Ryokufūkai) | Yaheiji Saikawa (Liberal) | 1956 | Makie Koyanagi (LDP) | Toshiei Kiyosawa (Social Democratic) |
| Goro Takeuchi (Social Democratic) | Yoshio Sato (LDP) | 1959 | Makie Koyanagi (LDP) | Toshiei Kiyosawa (Social Democratic) |
| Goro Takeuchi (Social Democratic) | Yoshio Sato (LDP) | 1962 | Makie Koyanagi (LDP) | Zentaro Sugiyama (Social Democratic) |
| Goro Takeuchi (Social Democratic) | Yoshio Sato (LDP) | 1965 | Makie Koyanagi (LDP) | Zentaro Sugiyama (Social Democratic) |
| Goro Takeuchi (Social Democratic) | Takashi Sato (LDP) | 1967 by-election | Makie Koyanagi (LDP) | Zentaro Sugiyama (Social Democratic) |
| Goro Takeuchi (Social Democratic) | Takashi Sato (LDP) | 1968 | Jūichiro Tsukada (Ind.) | Makoto Matsui (Social Democratic) |
| Zentaro Sugiyama (Social Democratic) | Takashi Sato (LDP) | 1971 | Jūichiro Tsukada (Ind.) | Makoto Matsui (Social Democratic) |
| Zentaro Sugiyama (Social Democratic) | Takashi Sato (LDP) | 1972 by-election | Jūichiro Tsukada (Ind.) | Takeo Kimi (LDP) |
| Zentaro Sugiyama (Social Democratic) | Takashi Sato (LDP) | 1974 | Shiro Watari (LDP) | Yutaka Shitoma (Social Democratic) |
| Zentaro Sugiyama (Social Democratic) | Jūichiro Tsukada (LDP) | 1976 by-election | Shiro Watari (LDP) | Yutaka Shitoma (Social Democratic) |
| Zentaro Sugiyama (Social Democratic) | Jūichiro Tsukada (LDP) | 1977 by-election | Shin Hasegawa (LDP) | Yutaka Shitoma (Social Democratic) |
| Masao Yoshida (Social Democratic) | Jūichiro Tsukada (LDP) | 1977 | Shin Hasegawa (LDP) | Yutaka Shitoma (Social Democratic) |
| Masao Yoshida (Social Democratic) | Jūichiro Tsukada (LDP) | 1980 | Shin Hasegawa (LDP) | Yutaka Shitoma (Social Democratic) |
| Toshio Inamura (Social Democratic) | Yoshio Yoshikawa (LDP) | 1983 | Shin Hasegawa (LDP) | Yutaka Shitoma (Social Democratic) |
| Toshio Inamura (Social Democratic) | Yoshio Yoshikawa (LDP) | 1986 | Shin Hasegawa (LDP) | Yutaka Shitoma (Social Democratic) |
| Toshio Inamura (Social Democratic) | Yoshio Yoshikawa (LDP) | 1989 by-election | Shin Hasegawa (LDP) | Kinuko Ōfuchi (Social Democratic) |
| Toshio Inamura (Social Democratic) | Yoshio Yoshikawa (LDP) | 1989 | Shin Hasegawa (LDP) | Kinuko Ōfuchi (Social Democratic) |
| Toshio Inamura (Social Democratic) | Yoshio Yoshikawa (LDP) | 1990 by-election | Kazuo Majima (LDP) | Kinuko Ōfuchi (Social Democratic) |
| Toshio Inamura (Social Democratic) | Yoshio Yoshikawa (LDP) | 1992 | Kazuo Majima (LDP) | Kinuko Ōfuchi (Social Democratic) |
| Michio Hasegawa (New Frontier) | Yoshio Yoshikawa (LDP) | 1995 | Kazuo Majima (LDP) | Kinuko Ōfuchi (Social Democratic) |
| Michio Hasegawa (New Frontier) | Yoshio Yoshikawa (LDP) | 1998 | Naoki Tanaka (LDP) | Kinuko Ōfuchi (Social Democratic) |
| Yuko Mori (Liberal) | Kazuo Majima (LDP) | 2001 | Naoki Tanaka (LDP) | Kinuko Ōfuchi (Social Democratic) |
| Yuko Mori (Liberal) | Takahiro Kuroiwa (Ind.) | 2002 by-election | Naoki Tanaka (LDP) | Kinuko Ōfuchi (Social Democratic) |
| Yuko Mori (Liberal) | Takahiro Kuroiwa (Ind.) | 2004 | Naoki Tanaka (LDP) | Masamichi Kondo (Ind.) |
| Yuko Mori (DPJ) | Ichiro Tsukada (LDP) | 2007 | Naoki Tanaka (LDP) | Masamichi Kondo (Ind.) |
| Yuko Mori (DPJ) | Ichiro Tsukada (LDP) | 2010 | Naoki Tanaka (DPJ) | Yaichi Nakahara (LDP) |
| Naoki Kazama (DPJ→DP→CDP) | Ichiro Tsukada (LDP) | 2013 | Naoki Tanaka (DPJ) | Yaichi Nakahara (LDP) |
| Naoki Kazama (DPJ→DP→CDP) | Ichiro Tsukada (LDP) | 2016 | Yuko Mori (Liberal) | Yuko Mori (Liberal) |
| Sakura Uchikoshi (CDP) | Sakura Uchikoshi (CDP) | 2019 | Yuko Mori (Liberal) | Yuko Mori (Liberal) |
| Sakura Uchikoshi (CDP) | Sakura Uchikoshi (CDP) | 2022 | Kazuhiro Kobayashi (LDP) | Kazuhiro Kobayashi (LDP) |
* ↑ Joined Ryokufūkai (1947–60) after the election
* ↑ Resigned 29 March 1955
* ↑ Died in office 16 December 1958
* ↑ Held 15 May 1955
* ↑ First elected in May 1955 as a Japan Democratic Party candidate, before the merger which created the LDP in November 1955.
* ↑ Died in office 29 August 1967
* ↑ Resigned 4 November 1976
* ↑ Held 5 November 1967
* ↑ Later joined the LDP
* ↑ Died in office 10 November 1972
* ↑ Held 17 December 1972
* ↑ Resigned 27 March 1974
* ↑ Died in office 4 April 1977
* ↑ Resigned 15 May 1989
* ↑ Held 12 December 1976
* ↑ Held 22 May 1977
* ↑ Died in office 28 October 1990
* ↑ Held 25 June 1989
* ↑ Held 9 December 1990
* ↑ Was first elected as an independent in 1998 but joined the LDP soon after. Resigned from the LDP in 2008 and joined the DPJ in 2009.
* ↑ The Liberal Party merged with the DPJ in 2003.
* ↑ Died in office 22 November 2001
* ↑ Joined the DPJ in December 2005)
* ↑ Held 28 April 2002
* ↑ Joined the Social Democratic Party after his election.
* ↑ Rejoined the Liberal Party after her election.

## Election results

2019 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Constitutional Democratic | Sakura Uchikoshi | 521,717 | 50.49 | |
| | Liberal Democratic | Ichiro Tsukada (Incumbent) | 479,050 | 46.36 | |
| | | Kojima | 32,628 | 2.16 | 3.16 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | | |
2016 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Yuko Mori | 560,429 | 49.02 | |
| | Liberal Democratic | Yaichi Nakahara (Incumbent) | 558,150 | 48.82 | |
| | Happiness Realization | Motoyuki Yokoi | 24,639 | 2.16 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 59.77 | 3.99 |
2013 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democratic | Ichiro Tsukada (Incumbent) (endorsed by Komeito) | 456,542 | 43.0 |
| | Democratic | Naoki Kazama | 204,834 | 19.3 |
| | People's Life | Yuko Mori (Incumbent) | 165,308 | 15.6 |
| | Restoration | Ryūichi Yoneyama | 107,591 | 10.1 |
| | Communist | Hiroshi Nishizawa | 60,317 | 5.7 |
| | Social Democratic | Hideaki Watanabe | 46,101 | 4.3 |
| | Independent | Miyoko Ankyu | 15,612 | 1.5 |
| | Happiness Realization | Hiroaki Ogose | 5,188 | 0.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
2010 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Naoki Tanaka (Incumbent) | 439,289 | 37.9 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Yaichi Nakahara | 412,217 | 35.5 |
| | Independent | Masamichi Kondo (Incumbent) (Endorsed by People's New Party and Social Democratic Party) | 200,182 | 17.2 |
| | Communist | Katsutoshi Takeda | 73,579 | 6.3 |
| | Independent | Satoshi Annaka | 24,300 | 2.1 |
| | Happiness Realization | Kenya Kasamaki | 10,987 | 0.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
2007 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal Democratic | Ichiro Tsukada (endorsed by Komeito) | 403,497 | 32.1 |
| | Democratic | Yuko Mori (Incumbent) (endorsed by People's New Party) | 355,901 | 28.3 |
| | Democratic | Takahiro Kuroiwa (Incumbent) | 344,424 | 27.4 |
| | Social Democratic | Akiko Yamamoto | 91,016 | 7.2 |
| | Communist | Katsutoshi Takeda | 54,537 | 4.3 |
| | Independent | Mitsumasa Kusuhara | 7,806 | 0.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
2004 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Masamichi Kondo (endorsed by Democratic Party and Social Democratic Party) | 428,117 | 34.9 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Naoki Tanaka (Incumbent) (endorsed by Komeito) | 367,059 | 29.9 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Ichiro Tsukada (endorsed by Komeito) | 319,968 | 26.1 |
| | Communist | Kayoko Kuwahara | 111,201 | 9.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | |
April 2002 By-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Independent | Takahiro Kuroiwa | 541,881 | 53.3 |
| | Liberal Democratic | Ichiro Tsukada | 342,207 | 33.7 |
| | Communist | Kayoko Kuwahara | 132,672 | 13.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 52.44% |