The was a

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

political party in Japan In Japan, any organization that supports a candidate needs to register itself as a political party. Each of these parties have some local or national influence. This article lists political parties in Japan with representation in the National Die ...

, and one of the forerunners to the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a Centrism, centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to Centre-left politics, centre-left, Liberalism, liberal or Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Japan, ...

formed in 1998. Its two leading members,

Yukio Hatoyama is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and Leader of the Democratic Party of Japan from 2009 to 2010. He was the first Prime Minister from the modern Democratic Party of Japan. First elected to the House of Repre ...

and

Naoto Kan is a Japanese former politician who served as 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 ...

, subsequently and sequentially became

Prime Ministers A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

at the end of the first decade of the 21st century.

History

The party was founded on 29 September 1996 by sitting members of the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

, and was composed mostly of former

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

and

Japan Socialist Party The was a major socialist and progressive political party in Japan which existed from 1945 to 1996. The party was the primary representative of the Japanese left and main opponent of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party for most of its ex ...

politicians who did not support an alliance with the ruling

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

. Its initial leaders were

and

, formerly members of Sakigake. At its formation, it had 39 parliamentarians. The party won 52 seats in the 1996 general election, becoming the second-largest opposition party after the New Frontier Party. In April 1998, the party was augmented by former members of the New Frontier Party, which had collapsed in December 1997, increasing it to 90 seats. It then merged with the Good Governance Party (''Minseitō''), New Fraternity Party and Democratic Reform Party to create

Presidents of DPJ

Election results

House of Representatives

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Democratic Party of Japan (1996-98) Centrist parties in Japan Centre-left parties in Asia Defunct liberal political parties Defunct political parties in Japan Liberal parties in Japan Political parties disestablished in 1998 Political parties established in 1996 1996 establishments in Japan 1998 disestablishments in Japan