Japanese liberalism formed in the nineteenth century as a reaction against traditional society. In the twentieth century 'liberal' gradually became a synonym for

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

, and today the main conservative party in the country is named Liberal Democratic Party (''Jiyu Minshuto''). The defunct

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 ...

(''Minshuto'') was considered in part a centrist-liberal party, as are most parties which derived from it. The liberal character of the Liberal League (''Jiyu Rengo'') is disputed, as it is also considered to be conservative by some. This article is limited to

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

with substantial support, proved by having had representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary that parties labelled themselves "liberal".

Modern Japanese liberalism

Liberals in Japan are generally considered united by one major factor: their opposition to changing the post-World War II constitution forbidding the creation of a national military. Before the 1990s, Japanese liberals did not form a prominent individual political party. * Japan's left-wing liberalism emerged as a "peace movement" and was largely led by the JSP. * Until the 1990s,

conservative liberalism Conservative liberalism or right-liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right-wing of the liberal movement. M. Gallagher, M. Laver and P. Mair, ''Repre ...

(right-wing liberalism) in Japan was led by the

national-conservative National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...

LDP, and they contrasted with left-wing liberalism. Since the 1990s, most conservative liberals have left the LDP. The JNP and

Sakigake , known before launch as MS-T5, was Japan's first interplanetary spacecraft, and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the USA or the Soviet Union. It aimed to demonstrate the performance of the new launch vehic ...

are the parties founded by Japanese conservative liberals against the LDP's nationalist project, which now lead to the DPJ-liberalism tradition. Japan's modern liberal party, DPJ, which has been in full swing since the 1990s, was led by

moderate Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...

s of the right-wing LDP and left-wing JSP. Currently, the LDP has not been considered a liberal party. In the past, liberals in the LDP became opposition forces after leaving the party, so "liberal" generally became a force against "conservative" in Japanese politics in the 21st century. The current DPJ-liberalism tradition is being continued by the CDPJ. Since Japanese conservatism was influenced by

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

, Japan's radical liberalism and

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self- ...

against it were influenced by

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. As the LDP becomes an increasingly solid

party, and the

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

movement that led the traditional anti-LDP camp has lost control in Japan's opposition political camp, gradually shifting from the

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

" in the

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

and

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

sense of the past to the

centre-left Centre-left politics lean to the left on the left–right political spectrum but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The c ...

" in the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

sense. Currently, the LDP is the largest right-wing conservative party in Japan, and the CDPJ is the largest centre-left liberal party in Japan.

Timeline

From Public Society of Patriots until Constitutional Politics Party

* 1874: Liberals founded the Public Society of Patriots (''Aikoku Koto'') * 1881: The Aikoku Koto is continued by the

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 ...

(''Jiyu-to'') * 1891: The Jiyuto is renamed into

Constitutional Liberal Party The Constitutionalist Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Constitucionalista, PLC) is a political party in Nicaragua. At the Nicaraguan general election of 5 November 2006, the party won 25 of 92 seats in the National Assembly. However, the pa ...

(''Rikken Jiyuto'') * 1898: The Constitutional Liberal Party merged with the ⇒ Progressive Party into the Constitutional Politics Party (''Kenseito'') * 1898: A faction seceded as the ⇒ Constitutional Center Party * 1900: The party is taken over by the oligarchy and renamed into Constitutional Political Friends Association (''Rikken Seiyukai'')

From Constitutional Progressive Party to Reform Club

* 1882: The Constitutional Progressive Party (''Rikken Kaishinto'') is formed * 1896: The party is continued by the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

(''Shinpoto'') * 1898: The party merged into the Constitutional Politics Party (Kenseito) * 1898: This party fell apart and a faction of the Kenseito formed the Authentic Constitutional Party (''Kensei Honto''), renamed in 1910 into the Constitutional National Party (''Rikken Kokuminto'') * 1913: A faction seceded as the ⇒ Constitutional Association of Allies * 1922: The Constitutional National Party is renamed

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male cl ...

(''Kakushin Kurabu'') * 1920s: The Reform Club merged into the ''Constitutional Association of Political Friendship''

From Constitutional Association of Allies to Constitutional Democratic Party

* 1913: A faction of the ⇒ Constitutional National Party formed the Constitutional Association of Allies (''Rikken Doshikai''), renamed Constitutional Association (''Kenseikai'') in 1916 * 1927: The Constitutional Association merged with the ⇒ Authentic Constitutional Party of Political Friendship into the

Constitutional Democratic Party ) , newspaper = ''Rech'' , ideology = ConstitutionalismConstitutional monarchismLiberal democracyParliamentarism Political pluralismSocial liberalism , position = Centre to centre-left , international = , colours ...

(''Rikken Minseito'') * 1940: The party is dissolved by the military junta

Authentic Constitutional Party of Political Friendship

* 1924: A faction of the Constitutional Association of Political Friendship formed the Authentic Constitutional Party of Political Friendship (''Seiyu Honto'') * 1927: The party merged into the ⇒ Constitutional Democratic Party

From Renewal Party to Liberal Party (1993)

* In postwar Japan, liberal (リベラル) tendencies did not stand out much among major political parties for more than 40 years. During the Japanese Empire, liberals, including the

, were swept away by several political parties. The center-right liberal-conservatives (自由保守主義) became the ' leftist faction' of the right-wing conservative Liberal Democratic Party, and the center-left progressive-liberals (革新自由主義) formed the ' rightist faction' within the left-wing

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. * 1993: A liberal faction of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (''Jiyu-Minshuto'') seceded as the Renewal Party (''Shinseito'') * 1994: The Renewal Party merged with other factions into the New Frontier Party (''Shinshinto'') * 1997: The New Frontier Party fell apart into many parties, among them since 1998 the

(''Jiyuto''), but also the Good Governance Party (''Minseito''), the

New Fraternity Party The was a Japanese political party that existed in early 1998. It was founded by Diet members that broke away from the New Frontier Party in January 1998. The party has political roots in '' Minsha kyōkai'', and ''Minsha kyōkai'' is now the ma ...

(''Shinto-Yuai'') and the Democratic Reform Party (''Minshu-Kaikaku-Rengo'') * 2000: Dissidents of the Liberal Party formed the ''New Conservative Party'' (''Hoshuto'') * 2003: The Liberal Party merged into the ⇒ Democratic Party of Japan * 2012:

People's Life First was a short-lived political party in Japan. It had 37 out of the 480 seats in the House of Representatives, and 12 in the 242-member House of Councillors. On 28 November 2012, the party merged into Governor of Shiga Yukiko Kada's Japan Future Par ...

split from the Democratic Party of Japan * 2012: People's Life First split into a new

and

Tomorrow Party of Japan , also known as the Japan Future Party, was a Japanese political party, formed on 28 November 2012 by Governor of Shiga Prefecture Yukiko Kada and dissolved in May 2013. Kada created the party as an alternative to the then-ruling Democratic P ...

* 2013: Tomorrow Party of Japan dissolved * 2019: Liberal Party merged into DPP

New Party Harbinger

* 1993: A liberal faction of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (''Jiyu-Minshuto'') seceded as the New Party Harbinger (''Shinto Sakigake'') * 1996: Most members co-found the ⇒ Democratic Party of Japan * 1998: The party evolved in conservative direction, renamed into

Harbinger A harbinger is a forerunner or forewarning, but may also refer to: Companies * Harbinger Corp., an Internet-oriented business * Harbinger Capital, a hedge fund * Harbinger Knowledge Products, an eLearning products and content services company ...

(''Sakigake'') and further renamed in 2002 into Green Assembly (''Midori No Kaigi'')

Democratic Party of Japan (1998–2016)

* 1996: Dissidents from the New Party Harbinger and the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

founded the

Democratic Party of Japan (1996) The was a centrist to centre-left political party in Japan, and one of the forerunners to the Democratic Party of Japan formed in 1998. Its two leading members, Yukio Hatoyama and Naoto Kan, subsequently and sequentially became Prime Ministers at ...

(''Minshuto'') * 1998: The party merged with the

Good Governance Party The was a Japanese political party which was in existence for a short period in early 1998. It was a centrist, reformist party that merged with other parties in April 1998 to form the Democratic Party of Japan. There was an earlier pre-war ''Min ...

(''Minseito''), the

(''Shinto-Yuai'') and the Democratic Reform Party (''Minshu-Kaikaku-Rengo'') to form a new, enlarged Democratic Party of Japan (1998) (''Minshuto'', 民主党) * 2003: The

merged into the party * 2016: The Democratic Party of Japan merged with

Japan Innovation Party The was a political party in Japan. It was launched on 22 September 2014, following the merger of the Japan Restoration Party headed by Tōru Hashimoto, and the Unity Party, led by Kenji Eda. On 27 March 2016 the party merged with the Democrati ...

and Vision of Reform to form the

(''Minshinto'', 民進党)

CDP and DPP (2016–present)

* 2017: The

Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan The (CDP or CDPJ) is a social-liberal political party in Japan. It was founded in October 2017 as a split from the Democratic Party ahead of the 2017 general election. In late 2020, the party was re-founded following a merger with majoritie ...

(''Rikken Minshuto'', 立憲民主党) is formed as a centre-left social liberal party split from the Democratic Party. * 2018: The remaining Democratic Party merged with

Kibō no Tō was a conservative political party in Japan founded by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. The party was founded just before the call of the 2017 general election. The party's ideology was mainly Japanese conservatism and nationalism. Kibō no Tō ...

and form the

Democratic Party for the People The , abbreviated to DPP or DPFP, is a centre to centre-right political party in Japan. The party was formed on 7 May 2018 from the merger of the Democratic Party and Kibō no Tō (''Party of Hope''). In September 2020 a majority of the party ...

(''Kokumin Minshutō'', 国民民主党), which includes liberals and conservatives. * 2020: The majority faction of DPP merged into the new CDP, while the minority faction remain in the DPP.

Liberal leaders

Yukio Hatoyama is a former Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 16 September 2009 to 8 June 2010. He was the first Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan. First elected to the House of Representatives in 1986, Hatoy ...

–

Prime Minister of Japan The prime minister of Japan (Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

from 16 September 2009 to 8 June 2010, Leader of the DPJ (1999–2002, 2009–2010) *

Naoto Kan is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from June 2010 to September 2011. Kan was the first Prime Minister since the resignation of Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 to serve for m ...

– Prime Minister of Japan from 8 June 2010 to 2 September 2011, Leader of the DPJ (1998–1999, 2002–2004, 2010–2011) *

Yoshihiko Noda is a Japanese politician who was Prime Minister of Japan from 2011 to 2012. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and a member of the House of Representatives (lower house) in the Diet (national legislature). He was named to succeed Naoto K ...

– Prime Minister of Japan from 2 September 2011 to 26 December 2012, Leader of the DPJ (2011–2012) *

Yukio Edano is a Japanese politician who served as the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan from its formation in 2017 until 2021. A member of the House of Representatives in the Diet since 1993, he served as Chief Cabinet Secretary and M ...

– Leader of the Opposition (2017–2021).

Liberal thinkers

Fukuzawa Yukichi was a Japanese educator, philosopher, writer, entrepreneur and samurai who founded Keio University, the newspaper '' Jiji-Shinpō'', and the Institute for Study of Infectious Diseases. Fukuzawa was an early advocate for reform in Japan. His ...

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'' ...

Yukio Ozaki was a Japanese people, Japanese politician of Liberalism, liberal signature, born in modern-day Sagamihara, Kanagawa. Ozaki served in the House of Representatives of the Japanese Diet for 63 years (1890–1953). He is still revered in Japan as t ...

Tokuzō Fukuda Tokuzō Fukuda (福田徳三 ''Fukuda Tokuzō''; born February 12, 1874; died May 8, 1930) was a pioneer of modern Japanese economics. Fukuda introduced economic theory and economic history for the Social Policy School and the Younger Histor ...

* Masao Maruyama

Notes

References

{{Asia topic, Liberalism in Politics of Japan