The Labourers and Farmers Party (, ''Rōdōsha Nōmintō'') 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 ...

. It was active from 1948 until 1957.

History

The party was established in December 1948 by members of the Socialist Party Orthodox Faction Diet Members' Group, which was formed by 16

National Diet , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

members who had resigned or been expelled from the Japan Socialist Party after voting against the budget proposed by the Democratic Party–Socialist government due to their opposition to an increase in public transport fares.Haruhiro Fukui (1985) ''Political parties of Asia and the Pacific'', Greenwood Press, pp551–552 It was particularly well-supported in

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

and

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

where party president Hisao Kuroda and Haruo Okada were based, and was supported by some members of the National Railwaymen's Union and National Communications Workers' Union. It won only seven seats in the January 1949 elections, and was further reduced in size by three defections over the party's unclear stance on the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. It won two seats in the 1950 House of Councillors elections, and retained its four remaining seats in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the 1952 general elections. In the 1953 elections it won five seats in the House of Representatives, but failed to win a seats in the simultaneous House of Councillors elections. The 1955 elections saw the party reduced to three Diet members and lost its representation in the House of Councillors in the

1956 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1956. Africa * 1956 Gold Coast legislative election * 1956 Italian Somaliland parliamentary election * 1956–1957 Kenyan legislative election * 1956 Nyasaland general election Asia * 1956 Burmese gene ...

. The party was dissolved in January 1957 when its 2,000 members joined the Socialist Party.

Election results

House of Representatives

House of Councillors

References

1948 establishments in Japan 1957 disestablishments in Japan Defunct political parties in Japan Defunct socialist parties in Asia Japan Socialist Party breakaway groups Political parties disestablished in 1957 Political parties established in 1948 Socialist parties in Japan {{Japan-party-stub