The Liberal Party ( ja, 自由党, ''Jiyūtō'') was a political party in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

History

The party was established in August 1890 by 130 members of the House of Representatives who had been elected in July, and was initially named the Rikken Jiyūtō (立憲自由党, "Constitutional Liberal Party").Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, pp469–471 It was a merger of the Aikoku Kōtō, Daidō Club and

Daidō Kyōwakai was a after '' Enryaku'' and before '' Kōnin.'' This period spanned the years from May 806 through September 810. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * November 16, 806 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series ...

, together with several local parties. Initially led by Itagaki Taisuke, who had founded the original Liberal Party in 1881, it was renamed the "Liberal Party" in March 1891. It lost several Representatives in May 1891 when Ōi Kentarō's Kantō faction broke away to form the

Eastern Liberal Party The Eastern Liberal Party (, ''Tōyō Jiyūtō'') was a political party in Japan. History The Eastern Liberal Party was established by Ōi Kentarō in 1891 as a breakaway from the Liberal Party after a dispute between Ōi and Hoshi Tōru; it init ...

. Despite being the largest party, it was not involved in the government, and in 1891 joined forces with Rikken Kaishintō to oppose attempts to increase land taxation. In the

1892 elections Year 189 ( CLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silanus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 942 ''Ab urbe c ...

it was reduced to 94 seats, and lost a further 14 Representatives in December 1893 when a breakaway caused by the impeachment of party leader Hoshi Tōro for corruption led to the formation of the Dōshi Club.Fukui, p493 Although it won 120 seats in the March 1894 elections overall gaining 36 seats, the early elections were held in September that year, saw the party reduced to 107 seats. In April 1896 it joined Itō Hirobumi's government and Liberal leader Itagaki Taisuke was appointed Minister of Home Affairs. After losing another two seats in the March 1898 elections, the party merged with

Shimpotō was a short-lived political party in Meiji period Japan. The Shimpotō was founded by Ōkuma Shigenobu in March 1896, as a merger of the Rikken Kaishintō and minor political parties to offset a temporary alliance between Ōkuma's rival, Itō Hi ...

in June 1898 to form the Kenseitō.

Election results

References

{{Japanese Empire political parties Defunct political parties in Japan Liberal parties in Japan Political parties established in 1890 1890 establishments in Japan Political parties disestablished in 1898 1898 disestablishments in Japan