Speaker of the House of Representatives (Japan)
The Speaker of the House of Representatives (衆議院議長, Shūgiin-gichō) is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives of Japan, and together with the President of the House of Councillors, the Speaker is also the head of the legislative branch of Japan. The Speaker is elected by members of the House at the start of each session, and can serve for a maximum of four years.
| Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
|---|---|
| 衆議院議長 Shūgiin-gichō | |
 Badge of the member of the House of Representatives | |
| House of Representatives | |
| Style | Mr. Speaker (informal) The Honourable (formal) |
| Residence | The Speaker’s Official Residence (not in use) |
| Appointer | The House |
| Term length | Four years; renewable only if there is a dissolution |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Japan |
| Formation | November 29, 1890 |
| Deputy | Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives (衆議院副議長 Shūgiin-fukugichō) Banri Kaieda (since 10 November 2021) |
The current Speaker of the House of Representatives is Hiroyuki Hosoda, who took office on 10 November 2021.
Selection
The election of the Speaker takes place on the day of the new session, under the moderation of the Secretary-General of the House.[1] The Speaker is elected by an anonymous vote, and must have at least half of the votes in order to take office. If no one gets over half of the votes, the top two candidates will be voted again, and if they get the same number of votes, the Speaker is elected by a lottery. The Vice Speaker is elected separately, in the same way.[1]
Usually, the Speaker is a senior member of the ruling party, and the Vice Speaker is a senior member of the opposition party. The current Speaker, Tadamori Ōshima, is a member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, while the Vice Speaker, Hirotaka Akamatsu, is a member of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
Powers and Duties
According to Chapter III Article 19 of the Diet Law, the Speaker "shall maintain order in the House, arrange its business, supervise its administration, and represent the House".[1]
The Speaker is also authorized to maintain order in the House chambers by exercising police power. Upon the Speaker's request, police personnel are sent by the National Police Agency, and are placed under the Speaker's direction.[1] The Speaker may then order arrest or removal of a member of the House or a visitor.
According to Chapter XIV Chapter 116 of the Diet law, when a member of the House of Representatives acts in a disorderly manner, the Speaker can warn them or make them withdraw their statements. If the member does not obey these orders, the Speaker can forbid the member to speak or make the member leave the chamber until the end of the proceedings. If the chamber goes out of control and becomes over chaotic, the Speaker may also temporarily suspend or adjourn the sitting for the day.[1]
List of Speakers
| # | Name | Party | Entered office | Left office (+reason if not end of term) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial Diet (1890-1947) | ||||
| 1 | Nobuyuki Nakajima | Rikken Jiyūtō | November 26, 1890 | December 25, 1891 (dissolution) |
| 2 | Tōru Hoshi | Jiyūtō | May 3, 1892 | December 13, 1893 (expulsion) |
| 3 | Masataka Kusumoto | Dōmei Club | December 15, 1893 | December 30, 1893 (dissolution) |
| 4 | Masataka Kusumoto | Rikken Kakushintō | May 12, 1894 | June 2, 1894 (dissolution) |
| 5 | Masataka Kusumoto | Rikken Kakushintō | October 15, 1894 | June 8, 1896 (resignation) |
| 6 | Kazuo Hatoyama | Shinpotō | December 22, 1896 | December 25, 1897 (dissolution) |
| 7 | Kenkichi Kataoka | Rikken Seiyūkai | May 15, 1898 | June 10, 1898 (dissolution) |
| 8 | Kenkichi Kataoka | Rikken Seiyūkai | November 9, 1898 | December 7, 1902 |
| 9 | Kenkichi Kataoka | Rikken Seiyūkai | December 7, 1902 | December 28, 1902 (dissolution) |
| 10 | Kenkichi Kataoka | Rikken Seiyūkai | May 9, 1903 | October 31, 1903 (death) |
| 11 | Hironaka Kōno | Kenseitō | December 5, 1903 | December 11, 1903 (dissolution) |
| 12 | Masahisa Matsuda | Rikken Seiyūkai | March 18, 1904 | January 19, 1906 (resignation) |
| 13 | Teiichi Sugita | Rikken Seiyūkai | January 23, 1906 | December 23, 1908 |
| 14 | Sumitaka Haseba | Rikken Seiyūkai | December 23, 1908 | September 6, 1911 (resignation) |
| 15 | Ikuzō Ōoka | Rikken Seiyūkai | December 24, 1911 | August 21, 1912 |
| 16 | Ikuzō Ōoka | Rikken Seiyūkai | August 21, 1912 | March 6, 1914 (resignation) |
| 17 | Sumitaka Haseba | Rikken Seiyūkai | March 7, 1914 | March 15, 1914 (death) |
| 18 | Shigesaburō Oku | Rikken Seiyūkai | March 17, 1914 | December 25, 1914 (dissolution) |
| 19 | Saburō Shimada | Rikken Dōshikai | May 17, 1915 | January 25, 1917 (dissolution) |
| 20 | Ikuzō Ōoka | Rikken Seiyūkai | June 21, 1917 | February 26, 1920 (dissolution) |
| 21 | Shigesaburō Oku | Rikken Seiyūkai | June 26, 1920 | February 16, 1923 (resignation) |
| 22 | Gizō Kasuya | Rikken Seiyūkai | February 17, 1923 | January 31, 1924 (dissolution) |
| 23 | Gizō Kasuya | Rikken Seiyūkai → Ind. | June 26, 1924 | March 25, 1927 (resignation) |
| 24 | Shigeru Morita | Kenseikai | March 26, 1927 | January 21, 1928 (dissolution) |
| 25 | Hajime Motoda | Rikken Seiyūkai | April 20, 1928 | March 14, 1929 (resignation) |
| 26 | Mosuke Kawahara | Rikken Seiyūkai | March 15, 1929 | May 15, 1929 (death) |
| 27 | Zenbē Horikiri | Rikken Seiyūkai | December 26, 1929 | January 21, 1930 (dissolution) |
| 28 | Ikunosuke Fujisawa | Rikken Minseitō | April 23, 1930 | April 13, 1931 (resignation) |
| 29 | Kejirō Nakamura | Rikken Minseitō | December 26, 1931 | January 21, 1932 (dissolution) |
| 30 | Kiyoshi Akita | Rikken Seiyūkai | March 18, 1932 | December 13, 1932 (resignation) |
| 31 | Kunimatsu Hamada | Rikken Seiyūkai | December 24, 1934 | January 21, 1936 (dissolution) |
| 32 | Kōjirō Tomita | Rikken Minseitō | May 1, 1936 | March 31, 1937 (dissolution) |
| 33 | Shōju Koyama | Rikken Minseitō → Yokusan Giin Dōmei | July 23, 1937 | December 22, 1941 (resignation) |
| 34 | Kazutami Tago | Yokusan Giin Dōmei → Yokusan Seijikai | December 24, 1941 | May 25, 1942 |
| 35 | Tadahiko Okada | Yokusan Seijikai | May 25, 1942 | April 9, 1945 (resignation) |
| 36 | Toshio Shimada | Dainihon Seijikai → JPP | June 8, 1945 | December 18, 1945 (dissolution) |
| 37 | Senzō Higai | JLP | May 22, 1946 | August 23, 1946 (resignation) |
| 38 | Takeshi Yamazaki | JLP → Ind. | August 23, 1946 | March 31, 1947 (dissolution) |
| National Diet (1947-present) | ||||
| 39 | Komakichi Matsuoka | JSP → JSP (right wing) | May 21, 1947 | December 23, 1948 (dissolution) |
| 40 | Kijūrō Shidehara | LP | February 11, 1949 | March 10, 1951 (death) |
| 41 | Jōji Hayashi | LP | March 13, 1951 | August 1, 1952 (resignation) |
| 42 | Banboku Ōno | LP | August 26, 1952 | August 28, 1952 (dissolution) |
| 43 | Banboku Ōno | LP | October 24, 1952 | March 14, 1953 (dissolution) |
| 44 | Yasujirō Tsutsumi | PP | May 18, 1953 | December 10, 1954 (resignation) |
| 45 | Tō Matsunaga | JDP | December 11, 1954 | January 24, 1955 (dissolution) |
| 46 | Shūji Masutani | LDP | March 18, 1955 | April 25, 1958 (dissolution) |
| 47 | Nirō Hoshijima | LDP | June 11, 1958 | December 13, 1958 (resignation) |
| 48 | Ryōgorō Katō | LDP | December 13, 1958 | February 1, 1960 (resignation) |
| 49 | Ichirō Kiyose | LDP | February 1, 1960 | October 24, 1960 (dissolution) |
| 50 | Ichirō Kiyose | LDP | December 7, 1960 | October 23, 1963 (dissolution) |
| 51 | Naka Funada | LDP | December 7, 1963 | December 20, 1965 (resignation) |
| 52 | Kikuichirō Yamaguchi | LDP | December 20, 1965 | December 3, 1966 (resignation) |
| 53 | Kentarō Ayabe | LDP | December 3, 1966 | December 27, 1966 (dissolution) |
| 54 | Mitsujirō Ishii | LDP | February 15, 1967 | July 16, 1969 (resignation) |
| 55 | Takechiyo Matsuda | LDP | December 3, 1969 | December 27, 1969 (dissolution) |
| 56 | Naka Funada | LDP | January 14, 1970 | November 13, 1972 (dissolution) |
| 57 | Umekichi Nakamura | LDP | December 22, 1972 | May 29, 1973 (resignation) |
| 58 | Shigesaburō Maeo | LDP | May 29, 1973 | December 9, 1976 |
| 59 | Shigeru Hori | LDP | December 24, 1976 | February 1, 1979 (resignation) |
| 60 | Hirokichi Nadao | LDP | February 1, 1979 | September 7, 1979 (dissolution) |
| 61 | Hirokichi Nadao | LDP | October 30, 1979 | May 19, 1980 (dissolution) |
| 62 | Hajime Fukuda | LDP | July 17, 1980 | November 28, 1983 (dissolution) |
| 63 | Kenji Fukunaga | LDP | December 26, 1983 | January 24, 1985 (resignation) |
| 64 | Michita Sakata | LDP | January 24, 1985 | June 2, 1986 (dissolution) |
| 65 | Kenzaburō Hara | LDP | July 22, 1986 | June 2, 1989 (resignation) |
| 66 | Hajime Tamura | LDP | June 2, 1989 | January 24, 1990 (dissolution) |
| 67 | Yoshio Sakurauchi | LDP | February 27, 1990 | June 18, 1993 (dissolution) |
| 68 | Takako Doi | JSP | August 6, 1993 | September 27, 1996 (dissolution) |
| 69 | Sōichirō Itō | LDP | November 7, 1996 | June 2, 2000 (dissolution) |
| 70 | Tamisuke Watanuki | LDP | July 4, 2000 | October 10, 2003 (dissolution) |
| 71 | Yōhei Kōno | LDP | November 19, 2003 | August 8, 2005 (dissolution) |
| 72 | Yōhei Kōno | LDP | September 21, 2005 | July 21, 2009 (dissolution) |
| 73 | Takahiro Yokomichi | DPJ | September 16, 2009 | November 16, 2012 (dissolution) |
| 74 | Bunmei Ibuki | LDP | December 26, 2012 | November 21, 2014 (dissolution) |
| 75 | Nobutaka Machimura | LDP | December 24, 2014 | April 21, 2015 (resignation) |
| 76 | Tadamori Ōshima | LDP | April 21, 2015 | September 28, 2017 (dissolution) |
| 77 | Tadamori Ōshima | LDP | November 1, 2017 | October 14, 2021 (dissolution) |
| 77 | Hiroyuki Hosoda | LDP | November 10, 2021 | Incumbent |