Iwate 1st district (岩手[県第]1区, Iwate[-ken dai-]ikku) is a single-member constituency of the
House of Representatives in the
Diet of Japan. It is located in central
Iwate and consists of the prefectural capital
Morioka city and the two remaining towns in
Shiwa district.[1] Before 2017, it covered of the majority of the prefectural capital Morioka (the whole city without the former village of
Tamayama) and
Shiwa district. As of 2012, 278,860 eligible voters were registered in the district.[2]
Iwate is the home of
Ichirō Ozawa and like three of the prefecture's four post-reform districts, the 1st district had been represented by his parties from its creation to 2012: the
New Frontier Party, the
Liberal Party and the
Democratic Party. In 2012, Ozawa and his followers split from the Democratic Party: 1st district representative Shina stayed with the Democrats, Ozawa's
Tomorrow Party of Japan nominated
Yōko Tasso, the wife of former representative and current Iwate governor
Takuya Tasso; but Shina defended the district against Tasso and
Liberal Democratic former prefectural assembly member Hinako Takahashi who won a proportional block seat.