The Kokumin Kyōkai (, lit. ''National Association'') was a political party in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

History

Led by

Saigō Jūdō (1 June 1843 – 18 July 1902) was a Japanese politician and admiral in the Meiji period. Biography Early life Saigō was born in Shimokajiyachō, Kagoshima, the son of the ''samurai'' Saigō Kichibe of the Satsuma Domain. His siblings included ...

and Shinagawa Yajirō, nationalist supporters of

Matsukata Masayoshi Prince was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1891 to 1892, and from 1896 to 1898. Born in the Satsuma Domain to a samurai family, Matsukata served as finance minister for 15 of the 20 years between 1881 and 1901, ...

and his government established the Kokumin Kyōkai in June 1892.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, pp575–576 The party supported the expansion of the military and industrialisation and

Meiji oligarchy The Meiji oligarchy was the new ruling class of Meiji period Japan. In Japanese, the Meiji oligarchy is called the . The members of this class were adherents of '' kokugaku'' and believed they were the creators of a new order as grand as that e ...

. By early 1893 it had 68 members in the

National Diet , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

. It was less supportive of the

Itō Hirobumi Kazoku, Prince , born , was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888, and later from 1892 to 1896, in 1898, and from 1900 to 1901. He was a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior state ...

government installed in August 1892, and gradually became an opposition party. The party won 35 seats in the National Diet during the March 1894 elections, but was reduced to 32 in the September 1894 elections. By 1897 defections saw it down to 23 representatives, and although it won 29 seats in the March 1898 elections, it only won 21 seats in the September 1898 elections. It was subsequently dissolved in 1899 and succeeded by the

Teikokutō The Teikokutō (, lit. ''Empire Party'') was a political party in Japan. It was active from 1899 until 1905. History The party was established on 5 July 1899 as a successor to the Kokumin Kyōkai.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asi ...

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kokumin Kyokai Defunct political parties in Japan Political parties established in 1892 1892 establishments in Japan Political parties disestablished in 1899 1899 disestablishments in Japan Political parties in the Empire of Japan