House of Councillors

35°40′35.5″N 139°44′40.5″E / 35.676528°N 139.744583°E / 35.676528; 139.744583 The House of Councillors (参議院, Sangiin) is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, or the nomination of the prime minister, the House of Representatives can insist on its decision. In other decisions, the House of Representatives can override a vote of the House of Councillors only by a two-thirds majority of members present.

House of Councillors 参議院 Sangiin
213th Session of the National Diet
Type
Type	Upper house of the National Diet
Leadership
President	Hidehisa Otsuji, LDP (caucus: independent) since 3 August 2022
Vice President	Hiroyuki Nagahama, CDP (caucus: independent) since 3 August 2022
Structure
Seats	248
Political groups	Government (143)   LDP (116)   Kōmeitō (27) Opposition (92)   CDP-SDP (40)[a]   Ishin-FEFA (20)[b]   DPFP-SR (12)[c]   JCP (11)   Reiwa (5)   NHK Party (2)   Okinawa Whirlwind (2) Unaffiliated (11)   Sanseitō (1)   Independent (10)[d] Vacant (1)   Vacant (1)
Committees	17 committees
Length of term	6 years
Salary	President: ¥2,170,000/m Vice President: ¥1,584,000/m Members: ¥1,294,000/m
Elections
Voting system	Parallel voting: Single non-transferable vote (148 seats) Party-list proportional representation (100 seats) Staggered elections
First election	20 April 1947
Last election	10 July 2022
Next election	July 2025
Meeting place
Chamber of the House of Councillors
Website
www.sangiin.go.jp

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The House of Councillors has 248 members who each serve six-year terms, two years longer than those of the House of Representatives. Councillors must be at least 30 years old, compared with 25 years old in the House of Representatives. The House of Councillors cannot be dissolved, and terms are staggered so that only half of its membership is up for election every three years. Of the 121 members subject to election each time, 73 are elected from 45 districts by single non-transferable vote (SNTV) and 48 are elected from a nationwide list by proportional representation (PR) with open lists.^[1]

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