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Kumamoto 4th District
熊本県第4区
Parliamentary constituency for the Japanese House of Representatives
Prefecture	Kumamoto
Electorate	399,867 (as of September 2022)
Current constituency
Created	1994
Seats	One
Party	LDP
Representative	Yasushi Kaneko

Kumamoto 4th District (熊本県第4区, Kumamoto-ken dai-yon-ku, or 熊本4区 Kumamoto yon-ku) is a current single-member electoral district for the House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet of Japan. It is located in Kumamoto and since 2017 covers roughly the Southern half of Kumamoto.

Before 2013, it consisted of a small section of the prefectural capital Kumamoto (the former towns of Tomiai and Jōnan in today's Minami-ku), the cities of Amakusa, Uto, Kami-Amakusa and Uki and the remaining towns and villages of the former Amakusa, Upper (Kami-Mashiki) and Lower Mashiki (Shimo-Mashiki) counties. As of September 2012, 294,547 eligible voters were resident in the district.

Before 1996, the area had been part of the four-member Kumamoto 2nd district. Representatives had included Sunao Sonoda (DPJ→PDP→Progressive→JDP→LDP, 1947–1984) and his son Hiroyuki (LDP→NPH, 1986–1996). Hiroyuki Sonoda, deputy chief cabinet secretary during the LDP-JSP-NPH coalition, won the new single-member 4th district six times in a row after the electoral reform. In several elections, he was not even challenged by a candidate from the major party of the opposing bloc, exceptions were the initial election of 1996 and the "postal election" of 2005. In 2012, neither of the two established major parties contested the seat. Sonoda's main challenger in 2012, Masayoshi Yagami, had become a Liberal Democrat (JNP→NFP→LDP) when he represented the neighbouring 5th district in the 1990s, but became an independent for his two terms as mayor of Sagara and his failed run for governor of Kumamoto in 2008.

List of representatives

Election results

2021

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	LDP	Yasushi Kaneko	155,572	68.1	5.3
	CDP	Masayoshi Yagami	72,966	31.9	5.3
Turnout			232,464	57.50	0.51
	LDP hold

References

1. "総務省｜令和4年9月1日現在選挙人名簿及び在外選挙人名簿登録者数" [Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications - Number of registered voters as of 1 September 2022] (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-01-04.
2. MIC: 2017 changes to House of Representatives electoral districts, Map and table of changes in Kumamoto (in Japanese)
3. MIC: 平成24年9月2日現在選挙人名簿及び在外選挙人名簿登録者数>選挙区ごとの選挙人名簿及び在外選挙人名簿登録者数等 (in Japanese)
4. "自民 平沼氏と園田氏の復党を了承". NHK Newsweb (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2 October 2015.
5. Liberal Democratic Party: Nominated candidates (in both tiers) for the 48th general House of Representatives election Archived 2017-10-08 at the Wayback Machine (in Japanese)
6. 小選挙区 鹿熊本 4区 (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
7. 小選挙区 鹿熊本 4区 (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
8. 総選挙2014>開票結果 小選挙区 熊本. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2017-10-08.
9. 総選挙2012>開票結果 小選挙区 熊本. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-06-05.
10. ２００９総選挙 開票結果 小選挙区・熊本４区. Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-06-05.
11. 総選挙2005>開票結果 小選挙区 熊本. Yomiuri Shimbun (in Japanese). Retrieved 2013-03-15.
12. 総選挙2003>小選挙区 熊本. Mainichi Broadcasting System (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2013-06-05.
13. 第42回衆議院議員選挙 - 熊本4区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). VoiceJapan. Retrieved 2013-06-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
14. 第41回衆議院議員選挙 - 熊本4区. ザ･選挙 (in Japanese). VoiceJapan. Retrieved 2013-06-05. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)

• House of Representatives (Japan) districts in Kumamoto Prefecture
• 1994 establishments in Japan
• Constituencies established in 1994
• Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto
• Minamata, Kumamoto
• Uki, Kumamoto
• Yatsushiro, Kumamoto