The Supreme Court is seen in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward in this Feb. 10, 2019 file photo. (Mainichi/Kazuo Motohashi)
TOKYO -- All 11 of Japan's Supreme Court justices subject to a national review conducted alongside the Oct. 31 general election have retained their positions.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications announced on Nov. 1 the results of the Supreme Court justices' national review on 11 justices appointed after the previous general election in October 2017.
For a justice to lose their position in the review, a majority of valid votes regarding them must be a "no." Justice Takuya Miyama received the highest number of "no" votes with 4,490,554 ballots, accounting for some 7.85% of valid votes. At 3,411,965 voters, or 5.96% of valid votes, Justice Ryosuke Yasunami received the fewest ballots calling for his dismissal. Turnout was 55.69% -- 2.35 percentage points up on the previous review.
No justices have been dismissed in the past 24 national reviews. In the 1972 national review, then Justice Takeso Shimoda received the highest recorded rate of "no" votes at 15.17%.
(Japanese original by Jintaro Chikamatsu, Tokyo City News Department)
Each justice's name, previous occupation, number of votes against them and their proportion of total valid votes:
Takuya Miyama (judge) -- 4,490,554 (7.85%)
Masaaki Oka (lawyer) -- 3,570,697 (6.24%)
Katsuya Uga (scholar) -- 3,936,444 (6.88%)
Toru Sakai (prosecutor) -- 3,565,907 (6.23%)
Michiharu Hayashi (judge) -- 4,415,123 (7.72%)
Kazumi Okamura (administrative official) -- 4,169,205 (7.29%)
Mamoru Miura (prosecutor) -- 3,838,385 (6.71%)
Koichi Kusano (lawyer) -- 3,846,600 (6.72%)
Eriko Watanabe (lawyer) -- 3,495,810 (6.11%)
Ryosuke Yasunami (judge) -- 3,411,965 (5.96%)
Yasumasa Nagamine (administrative official) -- 4,157,731 (7.27%)
(Data provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. The order is based on the ministry's announcement. Percentages are rounded down to the nearest hundredth.)
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