Rikken Kaishintō

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File:Shigenobu Okuma kimono.jpg
Ōkuma Shigenobu, founder of the Rikken Kaishintō

The Script error: No such module "Nihongo". was a political party in the 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 financial backing by the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, and had strong support from the Japanese press,[1] and urban intellectuals.[2]

The Kaishintō pursued a moderate approach, calling for a British-style constitutional monarchy within the framework of a parliamentary democracy. In a speech Ōkuma gave at the inauguration of the party, he emphasized the symbolic role of the monarch in the type of government he envisioned. He also argued that those extremists who supported having the emperor directly involved in political decision-making were in fact endangering the very existence of the Imperial institution.[3]

In the first General Election of 1890, the Kaishintō won 46 seats to the Lower House of the Diet of Japan thus becoming the second largest party after the Liberal Party (Jiyūtō).

Afterwards, the Kaishintō adopted an increasingly nationalistic foreign policy, and in March 1896 merged with several smaller nationalist parties to form the Shimpotō.

Election results

Election Leader Seats +/- Status
1890 Ōkuma Shigenobu Template:Composition bar new Governing coalition
1892 Template:Composition bar Decrease 3 Governing coalition
March 1894 Template:Composition bar Increase 22 Governing coalition
September 1894 Template:Composition bar Decrease 11 Opposition

Notes

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  1. Jansen, the Making of Modern Japan, pp. 374
  2. Sims, Japanese Political History Since the Meiji Renovation 1868–2000, pp. 57
  3. Keene, Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852–1912, pp. 365

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References

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