seats - members elected for
four-year terms; 300 in single-seat constituencies; 180 members by
proportional representation in 11 regional blocs)
election results: House of Councillors - percent of vote by party -
NA; seats by party - LDP 115, DPJ 82, Komeito 24, JCP 9, SDP 5,
others 7; distribution of seats as of October 2004 - LDP 114, DPJ
84, Komeito 24, JCP 9, SDP 5, others 6
: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - LDP 49.38%,
DPJ 36.88%, Komeito 7.09%, JCP 1.88%, SDP 1.25%, NCP .84%; seats by
party - LDP 237, DPJ 177, Komeito 34, JCP 9, SDP 6, NCP 4, others
13; distribution of seats as of December 2004: LDP 249, DPJ 177,
Komeito 34, JCP 9, SDP 6, others 3, vacant 2
note: Liberal Party merged with Democratic Party of Japan in
September 2003; Conservative New Party merged with Liberal
Democratic Party following election in November 2003 (2004)
elections: House of Councillors - last held 11 July 2004 (next to be
held in July 2007); House of Representatives - last held 9 November
2003 (next election by November 2007)

Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after
designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the
cabinet)

Political parties and leaders:
Democratic Party of Japan or DPJ [Katsuya OKADA, leader; Tatsuo
KAWABATA, secretary general]; Japan Communist Party or JCP [Kazuo
SHII, chairman; Tadayoshi ICHIDA, secretary general]; Komeito
[Takenori KANZAKI, president; Tetsuzo FUYUSHIBA, secretary general];
Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Junichiro KOIZUMI, president;
Tsutomu TAKEBE, secretary general]; Social Democratic Party or SDP
[Mizuho FUKUSHIMA, chairperson; Seiji MATAICHI, secretary general]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA

International organization participation:
AfDB, APEC, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN (dialogue partner), Australia Group,
BIS, CE (observer), CERN (observer), CP, EBRD, FAO, G-5, G-7, G-8,
G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA, MIGA,
NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE (partner),
Paris Club, PCA, UN, UN Security Council (temporary), UNCTAD, UNDOF,
UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNMOVIC, UNRWA, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU,
WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Ryozo KATO
FAX: [1] (