A leadership election was held in the Democratic Party of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 on 16 May 2009 after the incumbent party leader Ichirō Ozawa

Ichiro Ozawa

is a Japanese politician. Formerly a chief secretary of the Liberal Democratic Party , he later defected from the LDP. He was the president of Japan's main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan , from 2006 until May 2009, when he resigned over a fund scandal, and secretary general of the...

 announced that he would resign in early May 2009. Ozawa had been expected to lead the DPJ into a possible election victory over the long-time incumbent Liberal Democratic Party

Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

The , frequently abbreviated to LDP or , is a centre-right political party in Japan. It is one of the most consistently successful political parties in the democratic world. The LDP ruled almost continuously for nearly 54 years from its founding in 1955 until its defeat in the 2009 election...

 later in 2009

Japanese general election, 2009

A general election in Japan was held on August 30, 2009, for all 480 seats of the House of Representatives of Japan, the lower house of the Diet of Japan....

, but a corruption scandal had forced him to resign in order to save the party's chances.

Possible replacements included the perceived frontrunner Katsuya Okada

Katsuya Okada

is a Japanese politician. A member of the House of Representatives of Japan, he is Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Japan and was previously its President. From September 2009 to September 2010, he was Foreign Minister of Japan....

 (known especially for his support of tougher climate policies), current deputy leaders and former leaders Naoto Kan

Naoto Kan

is a Japanese politician, and former Prime Minister of Japan. In June 2010, then-Finance Minister Kan was elected as the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan and designated Prime Minister by the Diet to succeed Yukio Hatoyama. On 26 August 2011, Kan announced his resignation...

 and Yukio Hatoyama

Yukio Hatoyama

is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan between 16 September 2009 and 2 June 2010, and was the first ever Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan....

, as well as the conservative security policy expert Seiji Maehara

Seiji Maehara

is a Japanese politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives of Japan since 1993. He was the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan from 2005 to 2006, and later served as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and Minister of Foreign Affairs under the cabinets...

. Okada (who was seen as a reformer) and Hatoyama (seen as likely to continue Ozawa's policies) officially announced their candidacies on 14 May 2009. According to surveys, Okada was more popular with the voters, while Hatoyama had more support from DPJ lawmakers, who were to make the decision. As predicted, Hatoyama was elected with 124 votes over Okada's 95.

Results

Candidates	Votes
Yukio Hatoyama	124
Katsuya Okada	95
Grand Total	219

• 1 invalid vote
• 1 absent