The was a political party in

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 ...

History

The party was established in March 1948 as a merger of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, Dōshi Club and a faction of the Democratic Party led by Saitō Takao. United by their opposition to the coal nationalisation law, the new party had 152 MPs and 46 members of the

House of Councillors The is the upper house of the National Diet of Japan. The House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives is the lower house. The House of Councillors is the successor to the pre-war House of Peers (Japan), House of Peers. If the t ...

. As a result of the DLP's attempts to block Yamazaki Takeshi from forming a new government after

Hitoshi Ashida was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan in 1948. He was a prominent figure in the immediate postwar political landscape, but was forced to resign his leadership responsibilities after a corruption scandal (Shōwa Denkō J ...

resigned as Prime Minister, the party's

Shigeru Yoshida was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1946 to 1947 and again from 1948 to 1954, serving through most of the country's occupation after World War II. Yoshida played a major role in determining the cour ...

became Prime Minister in October 1948 and early elections were called in January 1949. The DLP won a landslide victory, taking 269 of the 466 seats, the first time a party had held a majority of seats since

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Shigeru Yoshida continued as Prime Minister. In March 1950 the party merged with the Alliance faction of the Democratic Party to form the new

Leader

Election results

House of Representatives

References

Works cited

* {{Japanese political parties Defunct political parties in Japan Political parties established in 1948 1948 establishments in Japan Political parties disestablished in 1950 1950 disestablishments in Japan