The Rikken Kokumintō ( ja, 立憲国民党, , "Constitutional Nationalist Party") was a minor

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

in the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

. It was also known as simply the Kokumintō.

History

The ''Kokumintō'' was founded in March 1910, by a merger of the ''

Kensei Hontō The Kensei Hontō ( ja, 憲政本党) was a political party in Japan. History The party was established on 3 November 1898 following a split in the Kenseitō. Kenseitō had been formed earlier in the year by a merger of the Liberal Party and Shim ...

'' with a number of minor political parties and groups within the

Lower House A lower house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has co ...

of the

Japanese Diet The is the national legislature of Japan. It is composed of a lower house, called the House of Representatives (, ''Shūgiin''), and an upper house, the House of Councillors (, '' Sangiin''). Both houses are directly elected under a paralle ...

, and was dominated by

Inukai Tsuyoshi Inukai Tsuyoshi ( ja, 犬養毅, 4 June 1855 – 15 May 1932) was a Japanese politician, cabinet minister, and Prime Minister of Japan from 1931 to his assassination in 1932. Inukai was Japan's second oldest prime minister while serving, as he ...

. It advocated a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

, an electoral franchise based on universal adult male

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

and increased spending for the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

. It took a strong stand against the power and influence of the ''

genrō was an unofficial designation given to certain retired elder Japanese statesmen who served as informal extraconstitutional advisors to the emperor, during the Meiji, Taishō, and Shōwa eras in Japanese history. The institution of ''genrō ...

'' and

Meiji oligarchy The Meiji oligarchy was the new ruling class of Meiji period Japan. In Japanese, the Meiji oligarchy is called the . The members of this class were adherents of ''kokugaku'' and believed they were the creators of a new order as grand as that est ...

.Sims. Japanese Political Histor, page 100 In the 1912 general elections the new party secured 95 seats, making it the single largest opposition party (to the Rikken Seiyūkai) in the Lower House. In January 1913, about half of the party defected to join the ''

Rikken Dōshikai The Rikken-Dōshi Kai ( ja, 立憲同志会, , Association of Comrades of the Constitution) was a political party active in the Empire of Japan in the early years of the 20th century. It was also known as simply the Dōshikai. Founded by Prime Mi ...

'' founded by

Katsura Tarō Prince was a Japanese politician and general of the Imperial Japanese Army who served as the Prime Minister of Japan from 1901 to 1906, from 1908 to 1911, and from 1912 to 1913. Katsura was a distinguished general of the First Sino-Japanese W ...

. In the 1915 general elections the ''Kokumintō'' managed to retain only 27 seats. It was able to recover to 35 seats in the 1917 general elections, but in the 1920 general election dropped back to only 29 seats. In September 1922 the ''Kokumintō'' disbanded, and many of its former members formed the core of the new ''

Kakushin Club The Kakushin Club (, "Reformist Club") was a political party in Japan. History The party was established on 8 November 1922 as a merger of the Rikken Kokumintō (29 National Diet members), the Mushozoku Club (14 Diet members) and three indep ...

'', also led by Inukai Tsuyoshi.

Election results

References

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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rikken Kokuminto Defunct political parties in Japan Political parties established in 1910 Political parties disestablished in 1922 1910 establishments in Japan Politics of the Empire of Japan 1922 disestablishments in Japan