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 March 1950 as a merger of the Democratic Liberal Party led by Prime Minister

Shigeru Yoshida (22 September 1878 – 20 October 1967) was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1946 to 1947 and from 1948 to 1954. Yoshida was one of the longest-serving Japanese prime ministers, and is the third-long ...

(which held a majority in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

) and 22 MPs from the Alliance faction of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, although Alliance leader

Takeru Inukai was a Japanese politician and novelist active in Shōwa period Japan. Also known as "Inukai Ken", he was the third son of Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi. Biography Inukai was born in the Ushigome district of Tokyo. Although accepted ...

did not join the new party.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, pp. 568–572 In the April 1950 House of Councillors elections, it won 52 of the 132 seats. In August 1952,

Ichirō Hatoyama was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1954 to 1956. A conservative, Hatoyama helped oversee the 1955 merger of the Liberal Party and the Democratic Party to create the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), of which Hatoyam ...

was allowed to rejoin the party, having been banned from politics as a result of the

purge In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another organization, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertak ...

. A former leader of the original post-war

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, he expected Yoshida to allow him to take over the party again, but was rebuffed. This led to increasing tensions within the party, splitting it into Hatoyama and Yoshida factions. Although the party won a majority of seats in the House of Representatives in the October 1952 elections, winning 242 of the 466 seats, Yoshida's government lost a vote of no-confidence in March 1953, leading to early elections. Prior to polling day, the Hatoyama faction broke away to form

Liberal Party–Hatoyama The Liberal Party–Hatoyama ( ja, 鳩山自由党 (分派自由党)) was a political party in Japan. It was active during 1953. History The party was established in March 1953, shortly before the 1953 Japanese general election, April elections, ...

, which won 35 seats in the elections as the Liberal Party was reduced to 202 seats. The simultaneous House of Councillor elections also saw the party lose is majority in the upper house. However, Yoshida was able to form a minority government, and later in the year Hatoyama and 25 other Liberal Party–Hatoyama MPs rejoined the Liberal Party. Another split occurred in November 1954 when 35 MPs left the Liberal Party to merge with the Japan Liberal Party and the

Kaishintō The Kaishintō ( ja, 改進党, lit. ''Reformist Party'') was a political party in Japan. History The party was established on 8 February 1952 as a merger of the National Democratic Party and the Shinsei Club, together with most of the Farmers ...

to form the Japan Democratic Party (JDP). A no-confidence motion was passed shortly afterwards, resulting in the resignation of Yoshida and Hatoyama, now a member of the JDP, becoming the new Prime Minister. In the February 1955 general elections, the party was reduced to 114 seats as it was defeated by the JDP. On 15 November that year the two parties merged to form the Liberal Democratic Party.

Leaders

Election results

House of Representatives

House of Councillors

References

{{Authority control Defunct political parties in Japan Political parties established in 1950 1950 establishments in Japan Political parties disestablished in 1955 1955 disestablishments in Japan