The Liberal Party ( ja, 自由党, ''Jiyūtō'') was a political party in Japan.

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 entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

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 The was a political party in Meiji-period Japan. The ''Aikoku Kōtō'' was formed in January 1874 by Itagaki Taisuke, Etō Shinpei, Gotō Shōjirō and others as part of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement. Its purpose was to petition the ...

, Daidō Club and Daidō Kyōwakai, together with several local parties. Initially led by

Itagaki Taisuke Count was a Japanese politician. He was a leader of the "Freedom and People's Rights Movement" and founded Japan's first political party, the Liberal Party. Biography Early life Itagaki Taisuke was born into a middle-ranking ''samurai'' ...

, 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 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 received fin ...

to oppose attempts to increase land taxation. In the

1892 elections Year 189 ( CLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silanus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 942 '' Ab urbe ...

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 was a Japanese politician and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of Japan. He was also a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior statesmen that dictated Japanese policy during the Meiji era. A London-educated samu ...

's government and Liberal leader

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 as pa ...

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