Japan

House of Councillors

Political system
Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament
Bicameral
IPU membership
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Kokkai (National Diet)
Chamber name
Sangiin (House of Councillors)
Structure & status of parliament
Upper chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
6

Notes: Parliamentary term: 6 years; one half of the membership is renewed every three years

Frequency of renewal (years)
3

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1908 to 1938
from 1952
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
Asia-Pacific Group

Speaker

Official title
President of the House of Councillors
Speaker
Hidehisa Otsuji (Male)
Date of birth: 1940
Term
03 Aug 2022
Additional information

Elected on 3 Aug. 2022.

Speaker terms

Click for historical data

Secretary general

Official title
Secretary General
Secretary General
Fumitake Kobayashi (Male)
Term
10 Dec 2022
Notes

Elected on 10 Dec. 2022.

Members

Statutory number of members
248
Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Directly elected members
248
Current number of members
248
Men
182
Women
66
Percentage of women
26.6%
Statutory number of members per country 
713
Population (in thousands)
Click for historical data
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
Click for historical data

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
57.2
(2022-08)
Youngest member
Nobuo Yasue (Male)
Youngest member (years)
35
Oldest member
Hidehisa Otsuji (Male)
Oldest member (years)
81
Number of members, by age (2022-08)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 0 5 11 28 64 58 17 1 0 184
Female 0 0 4 5 12 28 11 0 0 0 60
Totals per age interval 0 0 9 16 40 92 69 17 1 0 244
Total <= 45: 25 Total >= 46: 219
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
3.7% 2% 1.6%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
10.2% 7% 3.7%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
No
Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No