Japanese General Election of 2009

The Democratic Party won 308 seats, ending the LDP's postwar dominance.

Overview

The August 30, 2009 election on 69 percent turnout delivered the Democratic Party of Japan 308 of 480 seats, reducing the Liberal Democratic Party, which had ruled almost continuously since 1955, to 119, its worst result. Yukio Hatoyama's government promised child allowances, fewer bureaucrats, and a less US-centric foreign policy. The historic alternation proved Japan's democracy could change hands, but the DPJ's mishandling of the Futenma base and disasters, including 3/11, returned the LDP to power by 2012. The 2009 landslide remains the opposition's single greatest and briefest triumph.