HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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