General elections were held in Japan on 6 July 1986 to elect the 512 members of the House of Representatives. This marks the last general election as of 2021 in which the LDP was able to obtain at least 300 seats in the House of Representatives, an event that only ever happened once before, in the 1960 election. This general election and 1960's are also tied for the highest number of seats ever obtained by the LDP in a general election, as both saw the LDP winning exactly 300 seats. However, the House of Representatives had fewer total seats in 1960, and so the popular vote for the LDP was actually stronger in 1960. Nonetheless, the 1986 general election also stands as the fourth strongest LDP showing in a general election in terms of the popular constituency votes. The result would not be matched until the Democratic Party of Japan's landslide showing in the 2009 Japanese general election narrowly beat it.

Quick Facts All 512 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan 257 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...

1986 Japanese general election

← 1983 6 July 1986 1990 →
All 512 seats in the House of Representatives of Japan 257 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	71.4% (3.5%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Yasuhiro Nakasone Masashi Ishibashi Yoshikatsu Takeiri Party Liberal Democratic Socialist Kōmeitō Leader since 25 November 1982 7 September 1983 13 February 1967 Last election 45.76%, 250 seats 19.49%, 112 seats 10.12%, 58 seats Seats won 300 85 56 Seat change 50 27 3 Popular vote 29,875,501 10,412,584 5,701,277 Percentage 49.42% 17.23% 9.43% Swing 3.66pp 2.26pp 0.69pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   DSP Leader Tetsuzo Fuwa Tsukamoto Saburō Yōhei Kōno Party Communist Democratic Socialist New Liberal Club Leader since 31 July 1982 June 1984 Last election 9.34%, 26 seats 7.27%, 38 seats 2.36%, 8 seats Seats won 26 26 6 Seat change 12 2 Popular vote 5,313,246 3,895,858 1,114,800 Percentage 8.79% 6.44% 1.64% Swing 0.55pp 0.83pp 0.72pp   Seventh party   Leader Satsuki Eda Party Socialist Democratic Leader since February 1985 Last election 0.67%, 3 seats Seats won 4 Seat change 1 Popular vote 499,670 Percentage 0.83% Swing 0.16pp
Prime Minister before election Yasuhiro Nakasone Liberal Democratic Prime Minister after election Yasuhiro Nakasone Liberal Democratic

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Opposition parties across the board saw seat losses and popular vote losses alongside it, with the lone exceptions being the Japanese Communist Party, which plateaued in its seat count, and the minor Socialist Democratic Federation, which gained a single seat. The biggest losses were in the Japan Socialist Party, which saw its decreasing popular vote numbers continued, alongside losing 27 seats. The DSP also saw a 12-seat loss, which took its representative number back down to 26 seats. Kōmeitō saw a small seat loss of three, and the New Liberal Club, which had been in coalition with the Second Nakasone Cabinet, lost two seats.