General elections were held in Japan on 20 February 1932.^[1] They were the last elections before the May 15 Incident, which marked the temporary end of party politics in Japan. Rikken Seiyūkai won 301 of the 466 seats in the House of Representatives.

Quick Facts All 466 seats in the House of Representatives 234 seats needed for a majority, First party ...

1932 Japanese general election

← 1930 20 February 1932 1936 →
All 466 seats in the House of Representatives 234 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Tsuyoshi Inukai Reijiro Wakatsuki Abe Isoo Party Rikken Seiyūkai Rikken Minseitō Shakai Minshūtō Leader's seat Okayama-2nd Peers Tōkyō-2 Last election 174 seats 273 seats 2 seats Seats won 301 146 seats 3 Seat change 127 127 1 Popular vote 5,683,137 3,442,326 125,758 Percentage 58.20% 35.25% 1.29% Swing 20.51% 17.23pp 0.38pp   Fourth party Fifth party   KST Leader Asō Hisashi Party Rōnō Taishūtō Kakushintō Leader's seat Tōkyō-5 (lost) Last election – 3 seats Seats won 2 2 Seat change New party 1 Popular vote 127,459 36,839 Percentage 1.31% 0.38% Swing New party 0.15pp
Prime Minister before election Tsuyoshi Inukai Rikken Seiyūkai Prime Minister after election Tsuyoshi Inukai Rikken Seiyūkai

Close

In 1931, the ruling Rikken Minseitō opposed the Mukden Incident, which was engineered by the military. The anti-war Foreign Minister Kijuro Shidehara and Prime Minister Wakatsuki Reijirō were criticized for their intervention in military and was accused of "serious corruption". After the resignation of the Reijirō Cabinet, some right-wing members of the ruling party formed a coalition with the opposition Rikken Seiyūkai and elected Inukai Tsuyoshi as prime minister.

Before the elections, some businessmen and candidates were assassinated by the right-wing.

Despite assassinations of anti-war politicians, Rikken Minseitō was unpopular because of its mishandling of the economic crisis. The ruling right-wing Rikken Seiyūkai led by Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi won a landslide victory.