 Prior to the election, the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) held three of the six PR block seats as well as 5 of the 13 small electorates that make up the block.The opposition LDP held 2 of the PR seats and the 8 remaining electorates, while their traditional junior coalition partner Komeito held the final PR seat.The 2012 general election delivered a landslide victory to the LDP, with 294 of the 480 seats won at the national level.