The Liberal Party (, ''Jiyūtō'') 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
The party was established in August 1890 by 130 members of the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...
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, together with several local parties. Initially led by
Itagaki Taisuke
Kazoku, Count Itagaki Taisuke (板垣 退助, 21 May 1837 – 16 July 1919) was a Japanese samurai, politician, and leader of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement (自由民権運動, ''Jiyū Minken Undō''), which evolved into Japan's firs ...
, 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 Ōi may refer to:
Japanese geography
* Ōi, Fukui
* Ōi, Kanagawa
* Ōi, Saitama
* Ōi District, Fukui
* Ōi River, Shizuoka Prefecture
* Ōi River (Kyoto Prefecture), part of the Katsura River
People with the surname
* Katsushika Ōi (c. 1800 ...
's Kantō faction broke away to form the Eastern Liberal Party. Despite being the largest party, it was not involved in the government, and in 1891 joined forces with Rikken Kaishintō
The was a political party in the Empire of Japan. It was also known as simply the Kaishintō.
The Kaishintō was founded by Ōkuma Shigenobu on 16 April 1882, with the assistance of Yano Ryūsuke, Inukai Tsuyoshi and Ozaki Yukio. It receive ...
to oppose attempts to increase land taxation.[
In the 1892 elections 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
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 ...
's government and Liberal leader Itagaki Taisuke
Kazoku, Count Itagaki Taisuke (板垣 退助, 21 May 1837 – 16 July 1919) was a Japanese samurai, politician, and leader of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement (自由民権運動, ''Jiyū Minken Undō''), which evolved into Japan's firs ...
was appointed Minister of Home Affairs.
After losing another two seats in the March 1898 elections, the party merged with Shimpotō in June 1898 to form the Kenseitō
The was a political party in the Meiji period Empire of Japan.
History
The ''Kenseitō'' was founded in June 1898, as a merger of the Shimpotō headed by Ōkuma Shigenobu and the Liberal Party (Jiyūtō) led by Itagaki Taisuke, with Ōkuma a ...
.[
]
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
Political parties in the Empire of Japan