Kinki proportional representation block

The Kinki proportional representation block is one of eleven proportional representation "blocks", multi-member constituencies for the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan. It consists of the Kinki (or Kansai) region, and consists of the prefectures of Osaka, Kyoto, Hyōgo, Shiga, Nara, and Wakayama. Following the introduction of proportional voting, Kinki elected 33 representatives by PR in the 1996 general election, reduced to 30 in the election of 2000 when the total number of PR seats was reduced from 200 to 180. Kinki was reduced to 29 seats in 2003, and again to 28 in 2017.

Overview

Kinki is usually defined as comprising the following regions: Osaka Prefecture, Hyōgo Prefecture, Kyoto Prefecture, Shiga Prefecture, Nara Prefecture, Wakayama Prefecture, and Mie Prefecture. While Wakayama is in the Kinki proportional representation block, Mie is in the Tōkai proportional representation block.
This block, comprising 20.7 million people and 28 seats, is the largest proportional representation group in Japan by both population and the number of seats. As it holds the most seats, the required vote quota to secure a seat here is lower than in other blocks. Nevertheless, political parties must nominate more candidates than 10% of the total seats to comply with the Public Offices Election Law.