The was a

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

Meiji-period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The ''Aikoku Kōtō'' was formed on 12 January 1874 by

Itagaki Taisuke Kazoku, Count Itagaki Taisuke (板垣退助, 21 May 1837 – 16 July 1919) was a Japanese samurai, politician, and leader of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement (自由民権運動, ''Jiyū Minken Undō''), which evolved into Japan's firs ...

, Etō Shinpei,

Gotō Shōjirō Count was a Japanese samurai and politician during the Bakumatsu period, Bakumatsu and early Meiji period of Japanese history.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Gotō Shōjirō" in He was a leader of which would evolve into a political par ...

and others as part of the

Freedom and People's Rights Movement The Freedom and People's Rights Movement (自由民権運動, ''Jiyū Minken Undō'') was a Japanese political and social movement for democracy during the Meiji era, Meiji period. It pursued the formation of an elected legislature, revision of the ...

. Its purpose was to petition the

Meiji government The was the government that was formed by politicians of the Satsuma Domain and Chōshū Domain in the 1860s. The Meiji government was the early government of the Empire of Japan. Politicians of the Meiji government were known as the Meiji ...

to establish a

national assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and on 17 January submitted to the government a "Written Proposal for the Establishment of a House of Representatives". The Aikoku Kōto stood on the theory of innate human rights, criticized the tyrannical government, and advocated the creation of a government in which the emperor and subjects were one (kunmin ittai). To this end, they also advocated that the commoners, including samurai, wealthy farmers, and wealthy merchants, be given the right to participate in government and that a Diet be established. Fearing arrest after the failed

Saga Rebellion The was an 1874 uprising in Kyūshū against the new Meiji government of Japan.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Saga no ran" in . It was led by Etō Shinpei and Shima Yoshitake in their native domain of Hizen province, Hizen. Background Fo ...

, Itagaki disbanded it soon after its foundation in 1875. However, Itagaki, Ueki Emori and others revived the party on May 5, 1890 in response to the situation after the split in the Daidōdan movement, who wanted to rally the former Liberal Party members to the Aikoku Kōtō (Patriotic Public Party). On May 14, the three factions decided to join together to form the Gung Tora Club, and on August 4, the Aikoku Kōtō was dissolved, and the four factions, including the Kyushu Dōshikai, joined together to form the Rikken Jiyū-to (Constitutional Liberal Party) on September 15. The Aikoku Kōtō can be regarded as the first political party in Japan. It should not be confused with the Aikokusha movement in the latter half of the 1870s or with later

ultranationalist Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific ...

movements with similar names.

References

* Japan 1870s Defunct political parties in Japan Meiji Restoration Political parties established in 1874 1874 establishments in Japan Political parties with year of disestablishment missing Political parties in the Empire of Japan {{Japan-gov-stub

See also

References