Japanese parliamentary election, 1926 (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)

The Japanese parliamentary election of 1926 was the first election to elect the National Congress of Japan after the establishment of the Republic of Japan and the reunification of Japan. It was held from March to May 1926. Under the National Election Law of 1924, the delegates to the National Congress were elected by city and village councils that had been elected earlier between 1924 and 1925. During the elections of city and village councils, the Japanese Nationalist Party already gained majority of the councils, especially in the village ones (~93%).

Under the Election Law of 1924, each region of Japan reserved different number of seats on the National Congress. The region with bigger population such as Kansai reserved 45 seats, while the region with smaller population such as Okinawa reserved 25 seats. According to the law, the village councils reserved more elected candidates than the city ones. This situation gave advantages to the Japanese Nationalist Party since the rural areas were its political power bases since the Revolution.

Although the Nationalists had already controlled the government and the armed forces, other political groups were allowed to run their own candidates. Most notable political opposition to the Nationalists was the Communists that had been broke in rank with the Nationalists and formed their own party, the Japanese Communist Party in 1922. Religious groups such the Nichiren Buddhist political movement, Kokuchūkai, under Tanaka Chigaku also ran their candidates during the elections.

There was no secret ballot during the elections as the voting took place in public. In order to vote, the city/village councilors were usually required to calling out the candidate's name openly. The voting totals from each council then was accumulated by the regional electoral committee.

In total, there were 410 delegates elected to the National Congress of Japan in 1926. The Nationalists was able to maintain the control in the National Congress with total of 296 seats. The opposition Japanese Communist Party won 47 seats, mainly from Kantō, Greater Tokyo and Kansai regions. The Social Democrats won 35 seats, the Political Buddhists won seven seats and the Constitutionalists won two seats. Remaining 23 seats were belong to the independents.