October 5, 2021

In local assembly elections held on October 3, the Japanese Communist Party secured 18 seats in five cities and four towns, but failed to gain a seat in a by-election in one city.

In Kyoto’s Nagaokakyo City assembly election, all six JCP candidates won their seats, although the number of assembly seats was slashed by two. The party increased its number of seats by one from the pre-election strength and the percentage of seats held by the JCP in the assembly hit a record high. On the other hand, the Liberal Democratic Party lost two of its seats.

Furthermore, in Iwate’s Ichinoseki City, the JCP maintained its party strength in the assembly despite the reduction in the number of assembly seats by four.

In Sanyo-onoda City (Yamaguchi Pref.), the JCP increased its number of seats to two from the pre-election strength of one. In addition, the party succeeded in maintaining its current strength of seats in assemblies in two cities and four towns.

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On this day in the mayoral election in Tokyo’s Musashino City, the incumbent candidate, Matsushita Reiko, backed by opposition parties, including the JCP, defeated a Liberal Democratic/Komai-backed candidate by a wide margin.

With support from the JCP, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party, the Reiwa party, and local political parties, Matsushita obtained 34,096 votes (59.24% of total vote cast). Her rival, Kano Akira, who was endorsed by the LDP, the Komei party, and the Nippon Ishin no Kai party, received 16,430 votes. The voter turnout stood at 47.46%.