The was a centrist 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 on 8 March 1947 as a merger of the

Cooperative Democratic Party The Cooperative Democratic Party ( ja, 協同民主党, ''Kyōdō Minshutō'') was a political party in Japan. History The party was established as the Cooperative Democratic Club on 24 May 1946 as a merger of the Japan Cooperative Party and se ...

and the National Party following seven months of talks.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, pp576–577 The merger was the result of fears that a new electoral system would make it more difficult for small parties to gain representation. Although it initially had 78 MPs, a group of 15 led by Heima Hayashi left to join 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 ...

. In the 1947 elections the party won 31 seats 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 nine in the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers. If the two houses disagree on matters of the budget, treaties, ...

. It joined

Tetsu Katayama was a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 1947 to 1948. He bears the distinction of having been the first socialist to serve as Prime Minister of Japan. Early life He was born in Tanabe, Wakayama Prefecture on 28 July ...

's coalition government and was given two cabinet positions; party chairman

Takeo Miki was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1974 until 1976. Early life and family Takeo Miki was born on 17 March 1907, in Gosho, Tokushima Prefecture (present-day Awa, Tokushima), the only child of farmer-merchant H ...

was appointed Minister of Communications and Junzo Sasamori Minister in charge of the Demobilisation Agency. When

Hitoshi Ashida was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan in 1948. He was a prominent figure in the immediate postwar political landscape, but was forced to resign his leadership responsibilities after a corruption scandal (Shōwa Denkō Jik ...

formed a new government in 1948, the NCP remained in the coalition, with Okada Seiichi and Funada Kyōji appointed to the cabinet. In early 1948 three MPs left to form the Social Reformist Party, and the party left the government when Ashida resigned later in the year. The 1949 elections saw the party reduced to 14 seats. In May 1949 it merged with the New Farmers' Party, the Social Reformist Party and several small parliamentary factions to form the New Politics Council. In February 1950 the party was briefly re-established when several former party MPs left the New Politics Council, but in April 1950 it merged with the New Politics Council and the Democratic Party to form the National Democratic Party.

History

References

Further reading