Hokkaido proportional representation block

Hokkaido Proportional Representation Block
Parliamentary constituency for the Japanese House of Representatives
Map of House of Representatives proportional blocks, with an arrow pointing to the Hokkaido block
Prefecture	Hokkaido
Electorate	4,537,448
Current constituency
Created	1994
Number of members	Eight

The Hokkaido proportional representation block (比例[代表]北海道ブロック, Hirei [daihyō] Hokkaidō burokku) is one of eleven proportional representation (PR) blocks for the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It consists of Hokkaidō and is one of two PR blocks that covers only one prefecture, the other being Tokyo. Following the introduction of proportional voting, it elected nine representatives in the election of 1996. Since 2000, the Hokkaidō PR block has been represented by eight representatives.

With eight seats, Hokkaidō is the second-smallest PR block (Shikoku has only six seats), and the vote share needed to gain a seat is usually above ten percent. In 2000, when the combined vote of the two major parties reached a low of 56.8%, the Social Democratic Party managed to obtain a seat with only 8.9% of the vote (for a detailed explanation, see D'Hondt method).

In addition to the five national parties that emerged from the party realignments of the 1990s, the regionalist one-man party New Party Daichi has become a contender for PR seats in Hokkaidō. In all three elections in which it fielded candidates, it managed to obtain the third-largest vote share and one seat.

Party names are abbreviated as follows (format: abbreviation, translated name, Japanese name, Engrish name):

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