Yokusan Election (1942 Wartime General Election)

The House of Representatives elected in 1937 was due to expire in 1941, but the second Konoe cabinet had its term extended by one year by law on account of the emergency. Meanwhile all political parties had dissolved themselves in 1940 and joined the Imperial Rule Assistance Association (Taisei Yokusankai). After the opening of the Pacific War the Tojo cabinet decided to hold a general election on the tide of early victories in order to create a Diet committed to the war. In February 1942 the government sponsored the Yokusan Political Structure Council under former prime minister Abe Nobuyuki, which selected in advance 466 recommended candidates, one for every seat.

The 21st general election was announced on 4 April and held on 30 April 1942, the only general election of the Pacific War, known as the Yokusan (Imperial Rule Assistance) Election. Besides the 466 recommended candidates, 613 stood without recommendation. Recommended candidates received campaign money from the Extraordinary Military Expenditure account (Japanese Wikipedia gives 5,000 yen each, about 2.3 million yen in total) and were backed by bodies such as the Imperial Rule Assistance Young Men's Corps, while non-recommended candidates faced interference from the police and others, and some were pressed not to stand. The Doolittle Raid of 18 April came just twelve days before polling. Turnout was 83.16 percent.

Of the 466 seats, recommended candidates won 381 (81.8 percent) and non-recommended candidates 85. Those elected without recommendation included Hatoyama Ichiro, Ozaki Yukio, Miki Takeo, Saito Takao, Nakano Seigo and Ashida Hitoshi; Hatoyama, Miki and Ashida later became prime ministers. The Imperial Rule Assistance Political Association (Yokusan Seijikai) was formed in May 1942 and the great majority of members (98 percent in the earlier text) joined it, turning the legislature in effect into a rubber-stamp body.

The fairness of the election was challenged at the time. Defeated candidates in Kagoshima 2nd district sued to have the result annulled, and on 1 March 1945 the Great Court of Cassation declared the election in that district void, finding organised obstruction of non-recommended candidates, a celebrated instance of judicial independence in wartime. The Yokusan Election is now regarded as a symbol of the hollowing-out of parliamentary politics in wartime Japan. It was also the last House of Representatives election with an all-male electorate; women first voted in the general election of 1946.