Kanagawa 8th district (Kanagawa 8-ku, 神奈川8区) or more formally the "8th district of Kanagawa Prefecture" (Kanagawa-ken dai-8-ku, 神奈川県第8区) is a single-member electoral district for the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. It is located in northwestern Yokohama the capital of Kanagawa prefecture. The district covers the wards of Midori and Aoba. As of 2023, the district had 410,262 eligible voters.
Before the 2002 redistricting, i.e. until the 2003 general House of Representatives election, the 8th district consisted of Aoba ward and the Miyamae ward of Kawasaki City, the second major city in Kanagawa. Midori had previously been part of the 7th district, Miyamae was transferred to the newly created 18th district.
After the introduction of single-member districts with the 1994 Japanese electoral reform, effective in the 1996 Representatives election, the district was initially won by pre-reform 1st district incumbent Hiroshi Nakada (New Frontier Party later independent), who resigned for his successful campaign in the 2002 mayoral election in Yokohama city and later returned to the House of Representatives, but this time from Hokuriku-Shin'etsu. The resulting special election in Kanagawa 8th district was won by independent Kenji Eda. Eda lost the district in the 2003 Representatives election to Democrat Tetsundo Iwakuni, but won it back in 2005 and has held onto the seat since.
List of representatives Representative Party Dates Notes Hiroshi Nakada NFP 1996–2000 Previously member from the four-member 1st district for Japan New Party→New Frontier Party, joined "Independents" (Mushozoku no kai) after the NFP dissolution Independent 2000–2002 Resigned, elected mayor of Yokohama in 2002 Kenji Eda Independent 2002–2003 Special election October 28, 2002 Tetsundo Iwakuni DPJ 2003–2005 Kenji Eda Independent 2005–2009 Formed YP in 2009 Your Party 2009–2014 Led breakaway Unity Party in 2013, merged into Japan Innovation Party in 2014 Innovation 2014–2017 Independent 2017–2021 CDP 2021–2026Hidehiro Mitani LDP2026-Has had a seat in the PR Block since 2017.
Election results
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