Do certain regions have the reputation/stereotype of swinging more one way or the other, politically?
As an Australian, I'm aware that WA tends to lean more to the right, whereas NSW tends to lean left.
My understanding of America is that Texas leans right, whereas California leans left
In Canada, I've heard Alberta leans right while British Colombia is more left.
Does Japan have these regional stereotypes?
(not trying to start any political debate, just curious)
by HotAndColdSand
7 comments
There are certainly differences in political support based on where you are; you can see a breakdown by prefecture [here](https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/98422/9/98422-9-bf6f67a78e67c0e55a35266c6276f41f-975×1055.png?format=jpeg&auto=webp&quality=85%2C65&width=1950&height=1350&fit=bounds). But there aren’t really “liberal strongholds” like there are in the US. More like, there are two main right-wing parties in Japan: the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party, and you’ll see either one or the other being more popular depending on where you are, but the LDP (who is currently in charge at the national level) is more popular on average.
On the left (or, really, center-left) side, the Constitutional Democratic Party is somewhat popular and tend to do quite well in local elections, but the aforementioned right-wing parties are more popular no matter where you go, especially for national-level elections.
[This is](https://imgur.com/a/c3I7uA0) sort of satirical but it will give you some info
Kyoto and the Japanese Communist Party springs to mind.
Japan’s differences are not as noticeable as they are in some countries cause the LDP has historically been extremely dominant and is everywhere, areas where the LDP are weaker also do not necessarily correlate with a left vs right wing divide but more how organised the LDP is in that area.
So the strongest region as a whole for the LDP would probably broadly correlate with Chugoku and western Japan probably lump most of Shikoku in there as well. think Yamaguchi which is probably the most LDP prefecture in the country till about Wakayama as well as the western ends of Hokuriku. There are various other LDP hotspots, Gunma in Kanto is another notable base of strength for the LDP but that’s like the most contiguous zone.
If any area were to be considered the left wing zone it would be Kyoto, the traditional stronghold of the JCP amongst other opposition groups. Okinawa also is not the happiest hunting ground for the LDP usually electing left wing opposition alongside regional interest parties.
Starting from Osaka and spreading out into the rest of Kansai you have Isshin who grew rapidly in the last election. They are similar to the LDP but with slightly more libertarian bend and being representative of Osaka. They haven’t quite managed to broaden their appeal to the rest of the country as of yet though.
No one particular area but Komeito is the political wing of the Soka Gakkai a new religion Buddhist sect that some have called a cult and isn’t always seen super positively by other Buddhists. Any areas with high concentration of Soka Gakkai vote in Komeito members, particularly if turnout is low as Soka Gakkai are a religious motived base that doesn’t drop much.
Tokyo is massive and the LDP have never really managed to dominate it but not as though the opposition has turned it into a stronghold either. You get areas within Tokyo such as Suginami or Machida that do very strongly vote opposition though.
Tohoku is rural and conservative leaning but traditionally not considered that important and the LDP organisation is comparatively weak so you often see opposition candidates and independents win up that end. Ichiro Ozawa in Iwate being a key example.
Hokkaido also detached from the traditional focus of power and the LDP presence is not as strong, opposition parties often win about half the seats in Hokkaido.
Nagano and Niigata are other relatively large prefectures that the LDP often struggle in. The one major force from Niigata that I’m aware of in the LDP was Tanaka Kakuei who was not a traditional LDP politician.
Kyushu has a mix of very strong LDP voting areas and pockets of opposition power particularly in Saga and Oita.
Nagoya and Shizuoka would be important areas to focus on to bring the opposition into power but in recent years support for the opposition parties has gone backwards in those areas. Heard some stuff that the unions in Nagoya are kinda funky with where they chuck their support behind.
If anyone has corrections or extra details on areas I missed let me know.
Kind of related, but there was a deep resentment of Korean foreigners in Tottori back in 2006-7 where “political” groups would protest with loud music and harassment outside of homes of Korean immigrants.
Police and city officials refused to intervene. It made a couple of headlines.
/r/okinawa says Hi 😅
Bro sorry but what is that australian example? Nsw is the second most conservative state behind qld, probably 3rd actually behind tasmania as well. WA is historically a labour state.
Victoria likes to act progressive and ACT actually is progressive.