Japanese Election Maps

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Interesting to see the overwhelming LDP strength in the southwestern periphery (including, of course, Abe's own seat in Yamaguchi). That's been--in various guises--a very 'establishment' area ever since the Meiji Restoration.

Is there any reason for this beyond general cultural conservatism/relative lack of urbanisation? Although a certain... er... obvious point of comparison between Kyushu and Sicily can be made

Maybe it's because I'm a little tipsy right now but I'm not sure which of the similarities between Kyūshū and Sicily you're referring to; explain?

Kyushu has provided the bulk of yakuza members throughout history, including many bosses.

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Probably because the largest Yakuza group is based on Kobe, but Kyushu (especially Fukuoka) is known as the hotbed for not just an unusually strong Yakuza but also especially violent Yakuza groups like Kudo-Kai.

There's a reason English wikipedia's template for yakuza has a special section just for Kyushu based groups.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Designated_Boryokudan