The introduction of "small districts" in 1994 helped to radicalize changes in the Japanese political arena. On the agenda of electoral reform is the search for the optimal combination of majority and proportional principles, as well as reducing the difference in the price of the electoral vote. At the same time, the absence of significant programmatic differences between the two dominant parties does not allow the voter to make an informed choice based on their ideological preferences. Keywords: Japan, electoral reform, majority principle, "floating votes", vote price, proportional representation. The current electoral system in Japan has been formed for more than a century and a half. It acquired its modern form as a result of the political reform of 1994.The Japanese Parliament is bicameral - it consists of the House of Representatives (lower) and the House of Councillors (upper). The mechanisms of their formation, the procedure for holding elections, and other components of the electoral system vary significantly. Accordingly, the issue of electoral reform has its own characteristics for each of the chambers. ELECTORAL REFORM CHALLENGES FOR THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Elections to the House of Representatives are held within 40 days after its dissolution or within the last 30 days before the end of its 4-year term of office. The system of elections to the lower house is mixed and parallel: 300 deputies are elected in single-mandate ("small") districts, and 180-in districts of proportional representation, in which voting is carried out according to closed party lists. Accordingly, the country is divided into 300 single-member districts and at the same time into 11 districts of proportional representation (hereinafter referred to as OPP), which are regional blocks of several prefectures. A broad public debate is currently taking place in Japan on the reform of the lower house electoral system. The reason for it was a number of significant shortcomings, many of whi ... Read more