First Japanese general election for the House of Representatives

Background. The Imperial Diet was established in 1890 as a result of the 1889 Meiji Constitution. The Diet consisted of two chambers: the elected House of Representatives, which served as the lower house, and the House of Peers, which served as the upper house. The Meiji Constitution was promulgated on February 11, 1889, and came into effect on November 29, 1890.

Electoral Franchise. The elections had limited suffrage. Only male citizens aged 25 years and over who had paid 15 Japanese Yen or more in national taxes and had been resident in their prefecture for at least a year were qualified to vote. The legacy row suggests this restricted franchise represented approximately 5% of the adult male population, though this specific percentage is not explicitly stated in the source passages.

Significance. Voters elected 300 members of the House of Representatives. This event marked the first example of a popularly elected national assembly in Asia, as the Ottoman Chamber of Deputies had been elected indirectly. The right to vote on legislation, including the budget, gave the House of Representatives leverage to force the government into negotiations.