Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly

Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly 東京都議会 Tōkyō-to Gikai
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	January 1879 (1879-01)[1] as Tōkyō-fukai 1943 (1943) as Tōkyō-to-gikai April 17, 1947 (1947-04-17) (current local autonomy law)
Leadership
President	Shigeki Miyake[2] (LDP) since July 2021
Vice President	Hirotaka Motohashi[2] (Tomin First) since July 2021
Structure
Seats	127 assembly members
Political groups	Tomin First (31)   LDP (21)   Kōmeitō (19)   CDP (17)   JCP (14)   DPP (9)   Sanseitō (3)   Seikatsusha (1)   Independents (12)
Elections
Last election	22 June 2025
Next election	2029
Meeting place
Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Building, Shinjuku
Website
www.gikai.metro.tokyo.jp

The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly (東京都議会, Tōkyō-to gikai) is the prefectural parliament of Tokyo Metropolis.

Its 127 members are elected every four years in 42 districts by single non-transferable vote. 23 electoral districts equal the special wards, another 18 districts are made up by the cities, towns and villages in the Western part of the prefecture, one district consists of the outlying islands (Ogasawara and Izu Islands).

The assembly is responsible for enacting and amending prefectural ordinances, approving the budget (5.7 billion yen in fiscal 2007) and voting on important administrative appointments made by the governor including the vice governors.

Due to the special nature of the Tokyo Metropolis compared to other prefectures, the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly has certain powers that would usually fall into the responsibilities of municipal parliaments. This is to ensure efficient and unified urban administration for the 23 special wards that cover the former Tokyo City and comprise the urban core of the Greater Tokyo Area.

Current composition

Assembly hall

The 2024 Tokyo gubernatorial election took place on 7 July 2024. As of 18 July 2025, the assembly is composed as follows:^[3]

Composition of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly [4]
Parliamentary group and party majority of members come from (if any)	Seats
Tomin fâsuto no kai Tōkyō togi-dan ("Tokyo Metropolis residents first group Tokyo Metropolitan Government")[5] Tomin First no Kai	31
Rikkenminshutō ("Metropolitan Assembly Constitutional Democratic Party") Constitutional Democratic Party	22
Tōkyō-togikai jiyūminshutō ("Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly Liberal Democratic Party") Liberal Democratic Party	21
Togikai Kōmeitō ("Metropolitan Assembly Komeito") Kōmeitō	19
Nihon kyōsantō Tōkyō-togikai giin-dan ("Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly members group") Communist Party	14
Kokumin Minshu-tō ("Democratic Party For the People") Democratic Party For the People	9
Sanseitō ("Party of Do it Yourself!!") Sanseitō	3
Togikai seikatsusha nettowāku ("Metropolitan Assembly citizens/consumers network") Tokyo Seikatsusha Network	1
Independents	7
Total	127

Electoral districts

Most electoral districts correspond to current municipalities, but several districts correspond to former counties (the counties, abolished as administrative unit in 1921, had initially by definition served as electoral districts for prefectural assemblies in the Empire), namely the West Tama (Nishi-Tama), North Tama (Kita-Tama) and South Tama (Minimi-Tama) counties. The towns and villages on the islands have never been subordinate to counties, but to four subprefectures that together form the islands electoral district.

Electoral districts[6]
Special wards of Tokyo and Tokyo Islands			Western Tokyo/Tama area
District	Municipalities, subprefectures	Magnitude	District	Municipalities, counties	Magnitude
Chiyoda	Chiyoda ward	1	Hachiōji	Hachiōji city	5
Chūō	Chūō ward	1	Tachikawa	Tachikawa city	2
Minato	Minato ward	2	Musashino	Musashino city	1
Shinjuku	Shinjuku ward	4	Mitaka	Mitaka city	2
Bunkyō	Bunkyō ward	2	Ōme	Ōme city	1
Taitō	Taitō ward	2	Fuchū	Fuchū city	2
Sumida	Sumida ward	3	Akishima	Akishima city	1
Kōtō	Kōtō ward	4	Machida	Machida city	3
Shinagawa	Shinagawa ward	4	Koganei	Koganei city	1
Meguro	Meguro ward	3	Kodaira	Kodaira city	2
Ōta	Ōta ward	8	Hino	Hino city	2
Setagaya	Setagaya ward	8	Nishitōkyō	Nishitōkyō city	2
Shibuya	Shibuya ward	2	Nishi-Tama (West Tama)	Fussa city Hamura city Akiruno city Nishi-Tama County	2
Nakano	Nakano ward	4
Suginami	Suginami ward	6	Minami-Tama (South Tama)	Tama city Inagi city	2
Toshima	Toshima ward	3
Kita	Kita ward	4	Kita-Tama (North Tama) 1	Higashimurayama city Higashiyamato city Musashimurayama city	3
Arakawa	Arakawa ward	2
Itabashi	Itabashi ward	5	Kita-Tama (North Tama) 2	Kokubunji city Kunitachi city	2
Nerima	Nerima ward	6
Adachi	Adachi ward	6	Kita-Tama (North Tama) 3	Chōfu city Komae city	2
Katsushika	Katsushika ward	4
Edogawa	Edogawa ward	5	Kita-Tama (North Tama) 4	Kiyose city Higashikurume city	2
Islands	Tokyo Islands (Ōshima Subprefecture Miyake Subprefecture Hachijō Subprefecture Ogasawara Subprefecture)	1

Incidents

Heckling incident

On June 18, 2014, an assemblywoman, Ayaka Shiomura, was heckled in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly meeting when she asked questions about how to save women who have difficulty in pregnancy and childbirth. The comments were "Can't you have a baby?" (産めないのか) and "Hurry up and get married!" (早く結婚しろ). When assembly member Akihiro Suzuki [ja] was asked whether he was one of the hecklers, he denied heckling Shiomura. After the LDP identified Suzuki as the heckler on June 23, he came forward and made a formal, public apology, admitting he was one of the people who heckled Shiomura. Suzuki claimed responsibility for the first comment, but it was not clear who stated the latter. Yōichi Masuzoe, the Governor of Tokyo Metropolis, and fellow assembly member, apparently took part in the heckling. Other hecklers never came forward. On June 25, the assembly passed a resolution, aiming to restore trust, and settle the issue.^{[7][8][9][10]}

Reactions

Some believe that heckling can "give humor" and make discussion smooth and thus view heckling positively. Morita Minoru, a Japanese political commentator, pointed out that the number of "vulgar heckles" has increased. Some argue sexism is a major reason. For example, Tabojin Toshio, who oversaw for the latest Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election, said that he did not understand why this is considered sexism (2014).^[7][11][12]

Several members of Abe's cabinet criticized the incident - then-chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga encouraged the Assembly to "clean up its act", while health minister Norihisa Tamura and Minister of State for the Declining Birthrate Masako Mori respectively described the comments as "deeply disrespectful to women" and "totally unacceptable".^[13] The Guardian, Reuters, and the Wall Street Journal reported on and analyzed the incident.^[14][15][16]

See also

• Tokyo portal

• Tokyo Metropolitan Government

References

1. Tokyo Metropolitan Government: Chronological timetable
2. 歴代議長・副議長 ｜ 東京都議会, Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, 23 July 2017, http://www.gikai.metro.tokyo.jp/outline/successive_generations.html.
3. "会派等別議員名簿 ｜ 東京都議会". www.gikai.metro.tokyo.jp. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
4. 会派構成・会派略称一覧 ｜ 東京都議会. Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, 23 July 2021. Web. http://www.gikai.metro.tokyo.jp/outline/factional.html. Accessed 23 July 2021.
5. KAGAYAKE Tokyo
6. Tokyo Electoral Commission: Prefectural electoral districts Archived 2012-05-16 at the Wayback Machine
7. "都議会ヤジ問題、どう見る？" [How is the question of heckling in the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly viewed?]. The Page (in Japanese). 1 July 2014. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014.
8. "都議会:ヤジ幕引き　塩村議員「一つの区切り。私は私で」" [Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly member Shiomura on ending heckling: "It's a turning point. I'll do what I can"]. Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). 25 June 2014. Archived from the original on 28 June 2014.
9. "都議会やじ波紋　「産めないのか」「早く結婚しろ」" [Repercussions after Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly heckles of "Can't you have a baby?", "Hurry up and get married!"]. 東京新聞 TOKYO Web (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
10. "都議会ヤジは自民党の鈴木章浩都議と判明" [Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly heckler identified as LDP's Akihiro Suzuki]. 日本経済新聞 (in Japanese). 2014-06-23. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
11. "都議会で低レベルなヤジが飛び交う本質的な理由" [The reason why mild heckling occurs in the Assembly]. 日経ビジネス電子版 [Nikkei Business Online] (in Japanese). 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
12. "議会にヤジは必要なのか" [Is heckling necessary in the Assembly?]. The Page (in Japanese). 26 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 July 2014.
13. McCurry, Justin (2014-06-20). "Tokyo assemblywoman subjected to sexist abuse from other members". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-09-06.
14. "都議会セクハラやじ問題、抗議のネット署名4万人に". ITmedia NEWS (in Japanese). Retrieved 2025-09-05.
15. "女性都議へヤジ、抗議１千件　自民、発言者特定せぬ意向：朝日新聞デジタル". 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2019-04-18. Retrieved 2025-09-05.
16. "都議会やじ 欧米メディアが批判　NHKニュース". www3.nhk.or.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-06-24. Retrieved 2025-09-05.

External links

• Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly (in Japanese)
• Electoral Commission of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (in Japanese)
• Organizational Structure of TMG