Information of Diet members

This webpage briefly explains Diet members, followed by introduction on how to check for information on them mainly using the Internet.

1. About Diet members

Diet members are chosen by direct elections. Citizens over the age of 18 may vote. Eligible candidates must be 25 years old or older for the House of Representatives, and 30 years or older for the House of Councillors.
The House of Representatives has 465 members with a term of office of four years. It can be dissolved during this term. The House of Councillors has 242 members with a term of office of six years. There is no dissolution and half of them are reelected every three years. Members of the House of Representatives are elected by an electoral system comprised of single-seat constituencies and proportionally represented multiple-seat constituencies, and Members of the House of Councillors are elected by a combination of the proportional representation system and the constituency system.

2. About political parties and factions

A Political parties are the backbone of parliamentary government that connect people's interests and opinions to government decisions. Elections are held on a political party basis. After elections, each political party forms a faction, which is a political group that comprises members of the party and independent Diet members with similar political positions.

3. Information of Diet members

3-1. Diet members (1947-present)

(1) Current members

(2) Past Diet members

  • List of past Diet membersLeave the NDL website. compiled by the House of Councillors (Japanese)
    For members of the House of Councillors, users can see their names, how to read their names, the last faction they were members of, the number of electoral terms they served, and their constituencies from the first Diet (1947).

* The House of Representatives does not have a similar webpage.

3-2. Imperial Diet members (1890-1947)

*Please refer to Gikai seido 70-nen shi (The House of Representatives,The House of Peers/The House of Councillors) above.