Liberalism in Japan

Template:Multiple issues Template:Short description Template:Liberalism in Japan Japanese liberalism Template:NoteTag formed in the nineteenth century as a reaction against traditional society. In the twentieth century 'liberal' gradually became a synonym for conservative, and today the main conservative party in the country is named . The defunct was considered in part a centrist-liberal party, as are most parties which derived from it. The liberal character of the is disputed, as it is also considered to be conservative by some. This article is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, proved by having had representation in parliament.

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 radical liberalism (left-wing liberalism) emerged as a "peace movement" and was largely led by the Japan Socialist Party (JSP).
• Until the 1990s, conservative liberalism (right-wing liberalism) in Japan was led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and they contrasted with left-wing liberalism.

Since the 1990s, most conservative liberals have left the LDP. The Japan New Party (JNP) and New Party Sakigake are the parties founded by Japanese conservative-liberals against the LDP's nationalist project, which lead to the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)-liberalism tradition. Japan's previous liberal party, the DPJ, was led by moderates of both 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 Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ).

Since Japanese conservatism was influenced by Shinto, Japan's radical liberalism and democratic socialism were more influenced by Christianity.

As the LDP becomes an increasingly solid conservative party, and the socialist movement that led the traditional anti-LDP camp has lost control in Japan's opposition political camp, gradually shifting from the centre-right "liberal" in the European and Australian sense of the past to the centre-left "liberal" in the American sense. Currently, the LDP is the largest conservative party in Japan, and the CDPJ is the largest liberal party in Japan.

Timeline

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".

From Public Party of Patriots until Constitutional Party

• 1874: Liberals founded the Template:Nihongo3
• 1881: The Aikoku Kōtō is continued by the Template:Nihongo3
• 1891: The Jiyūtō is renamed into Template:Nihongo3
• 1898: The Rikken Jiyūtō merged with the ⇒ Shimpotō into the Template:Nihongo3
• 1898: A faction seceded as the ⇒ Kensei Hontō; with the former Jiyūtō faction reorganizing itself into the New Kenseitō
• 1900: The party is taken over by the oligarchy and renamed into Template:Nihongo3

From Constitutional Reform Party to Reform Club

• 1882: The Template:Nihongo3 is formed
• 1896: The party is continued by the Template:Nihongo3
• 1898: The party merged into the ⇒ Kenseitō
• 1898: The Kenseitō fell apart and a faction formed the Template:Nihongo3, renamed in 1910 into the Template:Nihongo3
• 1913: A faction seceded as the ⇒ Rikken Dōshikai
• 1922: The Rikken Kokumintō is renamed Template:Nihongo3
• 1920s: The Kakushin Club merged into the Rikken Seiyūkai

From Association of Friends of the Constitution to Constitutional Democratic Party

• 1913: A faction of the ⇒ Rikken Kokumintō formed the Template:Nihongo3, renamed Template:Nihongo3 in 1916
• 1927: The Kenseikai merged with the ⇒ Seiyūhontō into the Template:Nihongo3
• 1940: The party is dissolved by the military junta

Orthodox Constitutional Friends Party

• 1924: A faction of the Rikken Seiyūkai formed the Template:Nihongo3
• 1927: The party merged into the ⇒ Rikken Minseitō

Postwar period

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 Constitutional Democratic Party, 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.

From Renewal Party to Liberal Party

• 1993: A liberal faction of the conservative seceded as the
• 1994: The Renewal Party merged with other factions into the
• 1997: The New Frontier Party fell apart into many parties, among them since 1998 the , but also the , the and the
• 2000: Dissidents of the Liberal Party formed the
• 2003: The Liberal Party merged into the ⇒ Democratic Party of Japan
• 2012: split from the Democratic Party of Japan
• 2012: People's Life First split into a new Liberal Party and
• 2013: Tomorrow Party of Japan dissolved
• 2019: Liberal Party merged into ⇒ Democratic Party for the People

New Harbinger Party

• 1993: A liberal faction of the conservative seceded as the
• 1996: Most members left to co-found the ⇒ Democratic Party of Japan
• 1998: The remainder of the party evolved in conservative direction and renamed itself as , before becoming the ecologist in 2002

Democratic Party of Japan (1998–2016)

• 1996: Dissidents from the ⇒ New Harbinger Party and the Social Democratic Party founded the
• 1998: The party merged with the Good Governance Party, the New Fraternity Party and the Democratic Reform Party to form a new, enlarged
• 2003: The ⇒ Liberal Party (1998) merged into the party
• 2016: The Democratic Party of Japan merged with Japan Innovation Party and Vision of Reform to form the

CDP and DPP (2017–present)

• 2017: The is formed as a centre-left social liberal party split from the Democratic Party.
• 2018: The remaining Democratic Party merged with Kibō no Tō to form the , 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 figures

• Fukuzawa Yukichi[9]
  Fukuzawa Yukichi
• Itagaki Taisuke[10]
  Itagaki Taisuke
• Prime minister Ōkuma Shigenobu[11]
  Prime minister Ōkuma Shigenobu
• Prime minister Katō Takaaki[12]
  Prime minister Katō Takaaki
• Yukio Ozaki[13]
  Yukio Ozaki
• Tokuzō Fukuda[14]
  Tokuzō Fukuda
• Prime minister Wakatsuki Reijirō[15]
  Prime minister Wakatsuki Reijirō
• Prime minister Inukai Tsuyoshi[16]
  Prime minister Inukai Tsuyoshi
• Prime minister Shigeru Yoshida[17]
  Prime minister Shigeru Yoshida
• Prime minister Ichirō Hatoyama[18]
  Prime minister Ichirō Hatoyama
• Prime minister Tanzan Ishibashi[19]
  Prime minister Tanzan Ishibashi
• Prime minister Hayato Ikeda[20]
  Prime minister Hayato Ikeda
• Masao Maruyama[21]
  Masao Maruyama
• Prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa[22]
  Prime minister Morihiro Hosokawa
• Prime minister Yukio Hatoyama[23]
  Prime minister Yukio Hatoyama
• Prime minister Naoto Kan[24]
  Prime minister Naoto Kan
• Leader Yukio Edano of the CDPJ[25]
  Leader Yukio Edano of the CDPJ
• Leader Kenta Izumi of the CDPJ[26]
  Leader Kenta Izumi of the CDPJ

See also

• Conservatism in Japan
• History of Japan
• Politics of Japan
• List of political parties in Japan
• Mainichi Shimbun
• Reformist party (Japan)
• The Asahi Shimbun
• Chunichi Shimbun
• Non-LDP and non-JCP Coalition
• Kakushin Sētō (progressive political parties)
• Christianity in Japan
• Liberalism in South Korea – This was also influenced by Japanese liberalism during its early formation.