The was a

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...

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 ...

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 ...

, and one of the forerunners to the

Democratic Party of Japan The was a centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist: * * * * * * * to centre-left liberal or social-liberal political party in Japan from 1998 to 2016. The party's origins lie in the previous Democratic ...

formed in 1998. Its two leading members,

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 ...

and

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 ...

, subsequently and sequentially became

Prime Ministers A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister is no ...

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 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 vehi ...

and

Japan Socialist Party The was a socialist and progressive political party in Japan that existed from 1945 to 1996. The party was founded as the Social Democratic Party of Japan by members of several proletarian parties that existed before World War II, including ...

politicians who did not support an alliance with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. 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 was then relaunched as the

upon its merger 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 ...

(''Minseitō''),

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 ...

and Democratic Reform Party.

Presidents of DPJ

Electoral 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