Editing National Diet (section)

==Composition==
{{Main list|List of members of the Diet of Japan}}
{{See also|Elections in Japan}}

The houses of the National Diet are both elected under [[parallel voting]] systems. This means that the seats to be filled in any given election are divided into two groups, each elected by a different method; the main difference between the houses is in the sizes of the two groups and how they are elected. Voters are asked to cast two votes: one for an individual candidate in a constituency, and one for a party list. Any national of Japan at least 18 years of age may vote in these elections, reduced from age 20 in 2016.<ref>{{cite news |title = Diet enacts law lowering voting age to 18 from 20 |url = http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/17/national/politics-diplomacy/diet-enacts-law-lowering-voting-age-18-20/ |newspaper = [[The Japan Times]] |access-date = June 17, 2015 |archive-date = October 10, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161010081014/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/17/national/politics-diplomacy/diet-enacts-law-lowering-voting-age-18-20 |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>Japan Guide [http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2280.html Coming of Age (seijin no hi)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302011810/http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2280.html |date=March 2, 2012 }} Retrieved June 8, 2007.</ref> Japan's parallel voting system ([[Mixed-member majoritarian representation|mixed-member majoritarian]]) is not to be confused with the [[Mixed-member proportional representation|mixed-member proportional]] systems used in many other nations. The [[Constitution of Japan]] does not specify the number of members of each house of the Diet, the voting system, or the necessary qualifications of those who may vote or be returned in [[Elections in Japan|parliamentary elections]], thus allowing all of these things to be determined by law. However it does guarantee universal adult suffrage and a secret ballot. It also stipulates that the electoral law must not discriminate in terms of "race, creed, sex, social status, family origin, education, property or income".<ref name="const" />

Generally, the election of Diet members is controlled by statutes passed by the Diet. This is a source of contention concerning re-apportionment of prefectures' seats in response to changes of population distribution.  For example, the [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP) had controlled Japan for most of its [[Post-war Japan|post-war]] history, and it gained much of its support from rural areas. During the post-war era, large numbers of people relocated to urban centers for economic reasons; though some re-apportionments have been made to the number of each prefecture's assigned seats in the Diet, rural areas generally have more representation than do urban areas.<ref>U.S. Library of Congress Country Studies [http://countrystudies.us/japan/117.htm Japan – Electoral System] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012010352/http://countrystudies.us/japan/117.htm |date=October 12, 2011 }}. Retrieved June 8, 2007.</ref> Among rural interests, Japanese [[Rice production in Japan|rice farmers]] historically had particular influence in internal LDP politics and national policies on trade and agricultural subsidies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wojtan |first=Linda S. |date=November 1993 |title=Rice: It's More Than Food In Japan |url=https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/rice_its_more_than_food_in_japan |access-date=December 4, 2024 |website=Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education}}</ref>

The [[Supreme Court of Japan]] began exercising [[judicial review]] of apportionment laws following the ''Kurokawa'' decision of 1976, invalidating an election in which one district in [[Hyōgo Prefecture]] received five times the representation of another district in [[Osaka Prefecture]]. <ref>The Judgement of the Supreme Court, January 14, 1976 (最大判昭51.1.14).</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Goodman |first=Carl F. |date=Summer 2001 |title=The Somewhat Less Reluctant Litigant: Japan's Changing View towards Civil Litigation |url=https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-83249551/the-somewhat-less-reluctant-litigant-japan-s-changing |journal=Law and Policy in International Business |url-access=subscription |volume=32 |number=4 |page=785 |access-date=April 21, 2019 |archive-date=August 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804062520/https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-83249551/the-somewhat-less-reluctant-litigant-japan-s-changing |url-status=live }}</ref> In the most recent elections, the malapportionment ratio amounted to 3.03 in the House of Councillors (2022 election: Kanagawa/Fukui)<ref>[[Asahi Shimbun]], June 22, 2022: [https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASQ6Q6F2GQ6QUTFK01T.html 2022年参院選、一票の格差は最大3.032倍　朝日新聞算出] Retrieved December 14, 2024.</ref> and 2.06 in the House of Representatives (2024 election: Hokkaidō 3/Tottori 1).<ref>[[NHK]], October 16, 2024: [https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20241016/k10014610511000.html 衆議院選挙の「一票の格差」2倍以上に 前回の選挙に続き] Retrieved December 14, 2024.</ref>

Candidates for the lower house must be 25 years old or older and 30 years or older for the upper house. All candidates must be Japanese nationals. Under Article 49 of Japan's Constitution, Diet members are paid about ¥1.3&nbsp;million a month in salary. Each lawmaker is entitled to employ three secretaries with taxpayer funds, free [[Shinkansen]] tickets, and four round-trip airplane tickets a month to enable them to travel back and forth to their home districts.<ref>Fukue, Natsuko, "[http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110104i1.html The basics of being a lawmaker at the Diet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902001426/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110104i1.html |date=September 2, 2011 }}", ''[[The Japan Times]]'', January 4, 2011, p. 3.</ref>