Editing Shiga Prefecture (section)

== Politics ==
[[File:Shiga Prefectural Government Office.jpg|thumb|Ōtsu City's prefectural government building]]
[[Taizō Mikazuki]], a former member of the House of Representatives from Shiga, was narrowly [[2014 Shiga gubernatorial election|elected governor in July 2014]] with center-left support against ex-METI-bureaucrat [[Takashi Koyari]] (supported by the center-right national-level ruling parties) to succeed governor [[Yukiko Kada]]. In June 2018, he was [[2018 Shiga gubernatorial election|overwhelmingly reelected to a second term]] against one challenger, a communist.<ref>Shiga prefectural government: [https://www.pref.shiga.lg.jp/kensei/chizi/ Governor's office] (Japanese, English machine translation available by clicking "Foreign Language")</ref><ref>[[The Japan Times]], July 14, 2014: [https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/07/14/national/politics-diplomacy/ldp-candidate-flounders-shiga-gubernatorial-elections/ LDP candidate flounders in Shiga governor race], retrieved August 1, 2019.</ref><ref>[[NHK]] Senkyo Web, June 24, 2018: [https://www.nhk.or.jp/senkyo/database/local/2018/shiga-chiji.html 2018滋賀県知事選], retrieved August 1, 2019.</ref>

The [[Shiga Prefectural Assembly|prefectural assembly]] has 44 members from 16 electoral districts, and is elected in unified local elections. As of July 2019, the assembly was composed by caucus as follows: [[Liberal Democratic Party of Japan|LDP]] 20 members, Team Shiga ([[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan|CDP]], [[Democratic Party for the People|DPP]], former Kada supporters etc.) 14, [[Japanese Communist Party|JCP]] 4, Sazanami Club (of independents) 3, [[Kōmeitō]] 2, "independent"/non-attached 1.<ref>Prefectural assembly: [http://www.shigaken-gikai.jp/g07_Kaiha.asp Members by caucus] {{in lang|ja}}, retrieved August 1, 2019.</ref>

In the [[National Diet]], Shiga is represented by four directly elected members of the [[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]] and two (one per ordinary election) of the [[House of Councillors]]. For the proportional representation segment of the lower house, the prefecture forms part of the [[Kinki proportional representation block|Kinki block]]. After the national elections of [[2016 Japanese House of Councillors election|2016]], [[2017 Japanese House of Representatives election|2017]] and [[2019 Japanese House of Councillors election|2019]], the directly elected delegation to the Diet from Shiga consists of (as of August 1, 2019):
* in the House of Representatives
** for the [[Shiga 1st district|1st district]] in the west: [[Toshitaka Ōoka]], LDP, 3rd term,
** for the [[Shiga 2nd district|2nd district]] in the northeast: [[Ken'ichirō Ueno]], LDP, 4th term,
** for the [[Shiga 3rd district|3rd district]] on the southern shores of Lake Biwa: [[Nobuhide Takemura]], LDP, 3rd term,
** for the [[Shiga 4th district|4th district]] in the southeast: [[Hiroo Kotera]], LDP, 1st term,
* in the House of Councillors ([[Shiga At-large district]])
** in the class of 2016 (term ends 2022): Takashi Koyari, LDP, 1st term,
** in the class of 2019 (term ends 2025): Yukiko Kada, independent sitting with the [[Hekisuikai]] caucus, 1st term.