The Tokyo High Court on Nov. 17 ruled that the July Upper House election was unconstitutional because the maximum vote-value disparity between electoral districts was as high as 5 to 1. Although the court stopped short of nullifying the election results, reform of the Upper House election system is inevitable.
In late December, Upper House President Takeo Nishioka proposed abolishing the current single- or multiseat electoral districts, which exactly overlap prefectures, and dividing the nation into nine blocs of proportional representation based on the open-list system. The number of Upper House members would be kept at the current 242, with room for a future reduction. At present, 146 Upper House members are elected from electoral districts and 96 others through proportional representation covering the whole Japan.
The nine blocs would be Hokkaido with 12 seats, Tohoku (18 seats), Northern Kanto and Shinetsu (22 seats), Southern Kanto (44), Tokyo (24), Chubu (32), Kansai (40), Chugoku and Shikoku (22) and Kyushu and Okinawa (28). The maximum vote-value disparity will come down to 1.15 to 1.
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