Is one‐party dominance reemerging in Japan?

Predictions that a two‐party system would emerge in Japan as a result of changes in the electoral system first implemented in the October 1996 election have not been realized, nor have other benefits promised by the advocates of electoral reform materialized. Seizaburo Sato, IIPS research director, says the serious losers in the election were not a political party or parties but the proponents of the latest round of electoral reform. He suggests the LDP is likely to regain the position of majority party even before the next election, and argues that the 1996 election may mark the advent of another era of LDP one‐party supremacy.