The , frequently abbreviated to LDP, the Lib Dems, or , is a major
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
[The Liberal Democratic Party is widely described as conservative:
*
*
*
*
* ] and
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
[Sources describing the LDP as nationalist:
*
*
*
*
*
* A Weiss (31 May 2018). Towards a Beautiful Japan: Right-Wing Religious Nationalism in Japan's LDP.] political party in Japan. Since its foundation in 1955, the LDP has been in power almost continuously—a period called the
1955 System—except from 1993 to 1996, and again from 2009 to 2012.
The LDP was formed in 1955 as a merger of two conservative parties, 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 ...
and the
Japan Democratic Party
The was a conservative political party in Japan. Existing from 1954 to 1955, the party was founded by Ichirō Hatoyama, former foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and future Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. The party was formed on 24 November 1954 ...
, and was initially led by
prime minister
A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Ichirō Hatoyama
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1954 to 1956. During his tenure he oversaw the formation of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and restored official ...
. The LDP supported Japan's alliance with the United States and fostered close links between Japanese business and government, playing a major role in the country's
economic miracle
Economic miracle is an informal economic term for a period of dramatic economic development that is entirely unexpected or unexpectedly strong. Economic miracles have occurred in the recent histories of a number of countries, often those undergoi ...
from the 1960s to early 1970s and subsequent stability under prime ministers including
Hayato Ikeda
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1960 to 1964. He is best known for his Income Doubling Plan, which promised to double the size of Japan's economy in 10 years, and for presiding over the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. ...
,
Eisaku Satō
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1964 to 1972. He is the third longest-serving Japanese prime minister, and is ranked second by longest uninterrupted service. Satō is best remembered for securing the return ...
,
Kakuei Tanaka
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974. Known for his background in construction and earthy and tenacious political style, Tanaka is the only modern Japanese prime minister who ...
,
Takeo Fukuda
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1976 to 1978.
Born in Gunma Prefecture and educated at Tokyo Imperial University, Fukuda served as an official in the Ministry of Finance for two decades before entering pol ...
, and
Yasuhiro Nakasone
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1982 to 1987. His political term was best known for pushing through the privatization of state-owned companies and pursuing a hawkish and pro-U.S. fo ...
. Scandals and economic difficulties led to the LDP losing power between 1993 and 1994, and governing under a non-LDP prime minister from 1994 to 1996. The LDP regained stability during the premiership of
Junichiro Koizumi
Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ...
in the 2000s before achieving its worst-ever electoral result in the
2009 election. The party regained control of the government in a landslide victory at the
2012 election under
Shinzo Abe
Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...
. After the
2024
The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
and
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
elections the LDP currently holds 191 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 ...
and 119 seats in 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 ...
; the party has governed in coalition with
Komeito
, formerly New Komeito (NKP) and commonly referred to as simply Komei, is a political party in Japan founded by the leader of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda, in 1964. It is generally considered centrist and socially conservative. Since 2012, i ...
since 1999. Since the
2017 general election, the
Constitutional Democratic Party
The Constitutional Democratic Party (, K-D), also called Constitutional Democrats and formally the Party of People's Freedom (), was a political party in the Russian Empire that promoted Western constitutional monarchy—among other policies� ...
(CDP) has been its primary opponent in national politics.
The LDP is often described as a
big tent
A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a political party having members covering a broad spectrum of beliefs. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined ideology, seek voters who adhere to that ideology, and att ...
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
party, including factions that range from moderate conservatism to
right-wing nationalism. Although lacking a cohesive political ideology, the party's platform has historically supported increased defense spending and, since the 21st century, maintaining close relations with its
Indo-Pacific
The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...
allies to counter the rise of China as a superpower. The party's history and internal composition has been characterized by intense
factionalism among its members since its emergence in 1955.
Shigeru Ishiba
Shigeru Ishiba (born 4 February 1957) is a Japanese politician who has served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2024. He has been a member of ...
, Japan's incumbent prime minister, has served as
party president since 27 September 2024.
History
Beginnings

The LDP was formed in 1955 as a merger between two of Japan's political parties, the and the , both conservative parties, as a united front against the then popular , now the . The party won the following elections, and Japan's first conservative government with a majority was formed by 1955. It would hold majority government until 1993.
The LDP began with reforming
Japan's international relations, ranging from entry into the United Nations, to establishing diplomatic ties with the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Its leaders in the 1950s also made the LDP the main government party, and in all the elections of the 1950s, the LDP won the majority vote, with the only other opposition coming from
left-wing politics
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
, made up of the Japan Socialist Party and the
Japanese Communist Party
The is a communist party in Japan. Founded in 1922, it is the oldest political party in the country. It has 250,000 members as of January 2024, making it one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party is chaired ...
.
From the 1950s to the early 1970s, the United States
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...
spent millions of dollars to aid the LDP against leftist parties such as the Socialists and
the Communists, although this was not revealed until the mid-1990s when it was exposed by ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Details remain classified, while available documents show connections to prime ministers
Nobusuke Kishi
was a Japanese bureaucrat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1957 to 1960. He is remembered for his exploitative economic management of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo in China in the 1930s, ...
and
Eisaku Satō
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1964 to 1972. He is the third longest-serving Japanese prime minister, and is ranked second by longest uninterrupted service. Satō is best remembered for securing the return ...
from the
Satō–Kishi–Abe family
The Satō–Kishi–Abe family is one of the most prominent list of political families, political families politics of Japan, in Japan. Nobusuke Kishi, Kishi's brother Eisaku Satō and Kishi's grandson Shinzo Abe served as Prime Minister of Japan ...
.
1960s to 1990s
For the majority of the 1960s, the LDP (and Japan) were led by
Eisaku Satō
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1964 to 1972. He is the third longest-serving Japanese prime minister, and is ranked second by longest uninterrupted service. Satō is best remembered for securing the return ...
, beginning with the hosting of the
1964 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...
in Tokyo, and ending in 1972 with Japanese neutrality in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
and with the beginning of the
Japanese asset price bubble
The was an economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1991 in which real estate and stock market prices were greatly inflated. In early 1992, this price bubble burst and the country's economy stagnated. The bubble was characterized by rapid acceler ...
. By the end of the 1970s, the LDP went into its decline, where even though it held the reins of government many scandals plagued the party, while the opposition (now joined with the
Kōmeitō (1962–1998)
The Kōmeitō (), also known as the Kōmei Party and Clean Government Party (CGP), was a political party in Japan, initiated by Daisaku Ikeda, and described by various authors as the "political arm" of Soka Gakkai.
Kōmeitō was considered a cen ...
) gained momentum.
In 1976, in the wake of the
Lockheed bribery scandals
The Lockheed bribery scandals encompassed bribes and contributions made by officials of U.S. aerospace company Lockheed from the late 1950s to the 1970s in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft. The scandal caused considerable pol ...
, a handful of younger LDP
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 ...
members broke away and established their own party, the
New Liberal Club (Shin Jiyu Kurabu). A decade later, however, it was reabsorbed by the LDP.
By the late 1970s, the Japan Socialist Party, the Japanese Communist Party, and the Komeito along with the international community used major pressure to have Japan switch diplomatic ties from
Taiwan (Republic of China) to the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
In 1983, the LDP was a founding member of the
International Democracy Union
The International Democracy Union (IDU; known as the International Democrat Union until September 2023) is an international alliance of centre-right to right-wing political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 fu ...
.

The LDP managed to consistently win elections for over three decades, and the LDP's decades in power allowed it to establish a highly stable process of policy formation. This process would not have been possible if other parties had secured parliamentary majorities. LDP strength was based on an enduring, although not unchallenged, coalition of big business, small business, agriculture, professional groups, and other interests.
Elite bureaucrats collaborated closely with the party and interest groups in drafting and implementing policy. In a sense, the party's success was a result not of its internal strength but of its weakness. It lacked a strong, nationwide organization or consistent ideology with which to attract voters. Its leaders were rarely decisive, charismatic, or popular. But it functioned efficiently as a locus for matching interest group money and votes with bureaucratic power and expertise. This arrangement resulted in corruption, but the party could claim credit for helping to create economic growth and a stable, middle-class Japan.
Despite winning the
1986 general election by a landslide, by the end of 1980s, the LDP started to suffer setbacks in elections due to unpopular policies on trade liberalisation and tax, as well as a scandal involving their leader
Sōsuke Uno
was a Japanese politician and former Prime Minister of Japan.
Born in Shiga Prefecture, Uno enrolled in the Kobe College of Commerce before he was conscripted into the army during World War II. In 1960, he entered politics and was elected to th ...
and the
Recruit scandal
The was an insider trading and corruption scandal that forced many prominent Japanese politicians to resign in 1988.
Recruit is a human resources and classifieds company based in Tokyo. Its chairman, Hiromasa Ezoe, offered a number of shares ...
. The party lost its majority in the House of Councillors for the first time in 34 years in the
1989 election.
Out of power
The LDP managed to hold on to power in
1990 Japanese general election despite some losses. In June 1993, 10 members of the party's
liberal-conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
faction split to form the
New Party Sakigake
The , also known as the New Harbinger Party, was a political party in Japan that broke away from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on 22 June 1993. The party was created by Masayoshi Takemura. The party was centrist, and had many reformist ...
.
The end of the postwar miracle economy, the
Japanese asset price bubble
The was an economic bubble in Japan from 1986 to 1991 in which real estate and stock market prices were greatly inflated. In early 1992, this price bubble burst and the country's economy stagnated. The bubble was characterized by rapid acceler ...
and other reasons such as the
recruit scandal
The was an insider trading and corruption scandal that forced many prominent Japanese politicians to resign in 1988.
Recruit is a human resources and classifieds company based in Tokyo. Its chairman, Hiromasa Ezoe, offered a number of shares ...
led to the LDP losing its majority in
1993 Japanese general election
General elections were held in Japan on 18 July 1993 to elect the 511 members of the House of Representatives. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which had been in power since 1955, lost their majority in the House. An eight-party coalition gov ...
held in July of that year.
Seven opposition parties – including several formed by LDP dissidents – formed the
Hosokawa government headed by
Japan New Party
The was a Japanese political party that existed briefly from 1992 to 1994.
The party, considered liberal, was founded by Morihiro Hosokawa, a former Diet member and Kumamoto Prefecture governor, who left the Liberal Democratic Party to protest ...
leader and LDP dissident
Morihiro Hosokawa
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994. He led an eight-party coalition government which was the first Japanese government not headed by a Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Libera ...
, who became the Prime Minister preceded by
Kiichi Miyazawa
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1991 to 1993.
Born in Tokyo, Miyazawa graduated from Tokyo Imperial University with a law degree, and in 1942 joined the Ministry of Finance. He was first elected to the Nati ...
. However, the LDP was still far and away the largest party in the House of Representatives, with well over 200 seats; no other individual party crossed the 80-seat mark.
Yohei Kono became the president of the LDP preceded by
Kiichi Miyazawa
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1991 to 1993.
Born in Tokyo, Miyazawa graduated from Tokyo Imperial University with a law degree, and in 1942 joined the Ministry of Finance. He was first elected to the Nati ...
, he was the first non-prime minister LDP leader as the leader of the opposition.
In 1994, the Japan Socialist Party and New Party Sakigake left the ruling coalition, joining the LDP in the opposition. The remaining members of the coalition tried to stay in power as the minority
Hata Cabinet under the leadership of
Tsutomu Hata
was a Japanese politician who briefly served as prime minister of Japan in 1994.
Born in Tokyo, Hata graduated from Seijo University and was first elected to the National Diet in 1969. He rose to become a key member of the Liberal Democratic ...
, but this failed when the LDP and the Socialists, bitter rivals for 40 years, formed a majority coalition. The
Murayama Cabinet was dominated by the LDP, but it allowed Socialist
Tomiichi Murayama
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1994 to 1996. He was the country's first socialist premier since Tetsu Katayama in 1948, and is best remembered for the Murayama Statement on the 50th anniversary of the end of ...
to occupy the Prime Minister's chair until 1996 when the LDP's
Ryutaro Hashimoto
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1996 to 1998.
Born in Okayama Prefecture, Hashimoto graduated from Keio University in 1960 and entered the National Diet in 1963. He rose through the ...
took over.
1996–2009
In the
1996 election, the LDP made some gains but was still 12 seats short of a majority. However, no other party could possibly form a government, and Hashimoto formed a solidly LDP minority government. Through a series of floor-crossings, the LDP regained its majority within a year.
The party was practically unopposed until 1998 when the opposition
Democratic Party of Japan
The was a Centrism, centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist:
*
*
*
*
*
*
* to Centre-left politics, centre-left, Liberalism, liberal or Social liberalism, social-liberal List of political parties in Japan, ...
was formed. This marked the beginning of the opposing parties' gains in momentum, especially in the 2003 and 2004 Parliamentary Elections, that would not slow for another 12 years.
In the dramatically paced
2003 House of Representatives elections, the LDP won 237 seats, while the
DPJ won 177 seats. In the 2004
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 ...
elections, in the seats up for grabs, the LDP won 49 seats and the DPJ 50, though in all seats (including those uncontested) the LDP still had a total of 114. Because of this electoral loss, former Secretary-General
Shinzo Abe
Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...
turned in his resignation, but Party President Koizumi merely demoted him in rank, and he was replaced by
Tsutomu Takebe.
On 10 November 2003, the
New Conservative Party (''Hoshu Shintō'') was absorbed into the LDP, a move which was largely because of the New Conservative Party's poor showing in the 2003 general election. The LDP formed a coalition with the conservative
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
New Komeito
, formerly New Komeito (NKP) and commonly referred to as simply Komei, is a political party in Japan founded by the leader of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda, in 1964. It is generally considered centrist and socially conservative. Since 2012, it ha ...
(party founded by
Soka Gakkai
is a Japanese new religions, Japanese new religion led by Minoru Harada since December 2023 based on the teachings of the 13th-century Buddhist priest Nichiren. It claims the largest membership among Nichiren Buddhism, Nichiren Buddhist group ...
) from
Obuchi Second shuffle Cabinet (1999–2000).
After a victory in the
2005 Japanese general election
General elections were held in Japan on 11 September 2005 for all 480 seats of the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives, the lower house of the Diet of Japan, Diet. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called the election almos ...
, the LDP held an absolute majority in the Japanese
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 ...
and formed a coalition government with the
New Komeito Party
, formerly New Komeito (NKP) and commonly referred to as simply Komei, is a political party in Japan founded by the leader of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda, in 1964. It is generally considered centrist and socially conservative. Since 2012, it ha ...
. Shinzo Abe succeeded then-Prime Minister
Junichirō Koizumi
Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 200 ...
as
the president of the party on 20 September 2006. The party suffered a major defeat in the election of 2007, however, and lost its majority in the
upper house
An upper house is one of two Legislative chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restricted p ...
for the first time in its history.
The LDP remained the largest party in both houses 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 ...
, until 29 July 2007, when the LDP
lost its majority in the upper house.
In a
party leadership election held on 23 September 2007, the LDP elected
Yasuo Fukuda
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving in that role from 2000 to 2004 under Prime Ministers Yoshirō Mori an ...
as its president. Fukuda defeated
Tarō Asō
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2008 to 2009. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), he also served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance from 2012 to 2021. He was the longest-serving De ...
for the post, receiving 330 votes against 197 votes for Aso. However Fukuda resigned suddenly in September 2008, and Asō became Prime Minister after
winning the presidency of the LDP in a five-way election.
In the
2009 general election, the LDP was roundly defeated, winning only 118 seats—easily the worst defeat of a sitting government in modern Japanese history, and also the first real transfer of political power in the post-war era. Accepting responsibility for this severe defeat, Aso announced his resignation as LDP president on election night.
Sadakazu Tanigaki
is a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1983 to 2017, as Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2006, as President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2009 to 2012, as Minis ...
was
elected leader of the party on 28 September 2009, after a three-way race, becoming only the second LDP leader who was not simultaneously prime minister.
2009–present
The party's support continued to decline, with prime ministers changing rapidly, and in the
2009 House of Representatives elections the LDP lost its majority, winning only 118 seats, marking the only time they would be out of the majority other than a brief period in 1993.
Since that time, numerous party members have left to join other parties or form new ones, including , the and the . The party had some success in the
2010 House of Councilors election, netting 13 additional seats and denying the
DPJ a majority. Abe became the president again in September 2012 after a five-way race. The LDP returned to power with its ally
New Komeito
, formerly New Komeito (NKP) and commonly referred to as simply Komei, is a political party in Japan founded by the leader of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda, in 1964. It is generally considered centrist and socially conservative. Since 2012, it ha ...
after winning a clear majority in the
lower house general election on 16 December 2012 after just over three years in opposition. Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister for the second time preceded by
Yoshihiko Noda
is a Japanese politician. He is the current leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), and has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2000. From 2011 to 2012, he was the Prime Minister of Japan.
Noda entered po ...
who was the leader of the DPJ.
In July 2015, the party pushed for
expanded military powers to fight in foreign conflict through Shinzo Abe and the support of
Komeito
, formerly New Komeito (NKP) and commonly referred to as simply Komei, is a political party in Japan founded by the leader of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda, in 1964. It is generally considered centrist and socially conservative. Since 2012, i ...
.
Yoshihide Suga
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2020 to 2021. He had served as Chief Cabinet Secretary during the second administration ...
took over from
Shinzo Abe
Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...
in September 2020 after
a three-way race. After Suga declined to run for re-election, successor
Fumio Kishida
Fumio Kishida (born 29 July 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) from 2021 to 2024. He has been a member of the House of Representatives in the National Diet ...
led the party to a victory in the
October 2021 Japanese general election after
a four-way race, defying expectations. Despite support dropping in 2022 after the
assassination of Shinzo Abe
On 8 July 2022, Shinzo Abe, a former prime minister of Japan and serving member of the Japanese House of Representatives, was assassinated while speaking at a political event outside Yamato-Saidaiji Station in Nara City, Nara Prefecture. Abe wa ...
over connections between various party members and the Unification Church, the party had a good showing in the
2023 Japanese unified local elections, winning over half of the 2260 prefectural assembly seats being contested and six governorship positions.
From 18 to 19 January 2024, following a
scandal involving failure to report and misuse of ¥600 million in campaign funds by members of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan's conservative
Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai
Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai (, Seiwa Political Research Council), often shortened to Seiwa Kai, was a major Factions in the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), faction within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). I ...
and
Shisuikai factions in violation of Japanese campaign finance and election law, three factions (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai, Shisuikai, in addition to PM Kishida's
Kōchikai
was a leading faction within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), founded by bureaucrat-turned-politician Hayato Ikeda in 1957. The faction has produced five prime ministers (Ikeda, Masayoshi Ōhira, Zenkō Suzuki, Kiichi Miyazawa, and Fu ...
) all announced their intention to dissolve entirely in hopes of restoring public trust. Several LDP lawmakers were indicted, including incumbent lawmakers
Yasutada Ōno
Yasutada Ōno is a Japanese politician serving as a member of the House of Councillors since 2013. He was a member of the Liberal Democratic Party until 2024, having resigned following an indictment during the 2023–2024 Japanese slush fund sca ...
and
Yaichi Tanigawa, who both resigned from the party following their indictments.
In the
2024 Japanese general election
General elections were held in Japan on 27 October 2024 due to the early dissolution of the House of Representatives (Japan), House of Representatives, the lower house of the National Diet, by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Voting took place in ...
, the governing LDP and its coalition partner
Komeito
, formerly New Komeito (NKP) and commonly referred to as simply Komei, is a political party in Japan founded by the leader of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda, in 1964. It is generally considered centrist and socially conservative. Since 2012, i ...
lost their parliamentary majority in the lower house for the first time since
2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
, with the LDP suffering its second-worst result in its history, securing only 191 seats. The
Constitutional Democratic Party
The Constitutional Democratic Party (, K-D), also called Constitutional Democrats and formally the Party of People's Freedom (), was a political party in the Russian Empire that promoted Western constitutional monarchy—among other policies� ...
(CDP), the main opposition party led by former Prime Minister
Yoshihiko Noda
is a Japanese politician. He is the current leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), and has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2000. From 2011 to 2012, he was the Prime Minister of Japan.
Noda entered po ...
, achieved its best result in its history, increasing its seat count from 96 to 148. This was the first general election in Japan since the
1955 election wherein no party secured at least 200 seats.
The election outcome is largely attributed to a major slush fund scandal that emerged in November. Millions of yen raised at LDP faction events were illegally funneled into secret accounts, violating political financing laws. This scandal implicated 82 lawmakers from both parliamentary houses, including factions associated with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and then-Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida
Fumio Kishida (born 29 July 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) from 2021 to 2024. He has been a member of the House of Representatives in the National Diet ...
. The scandal, combined with low approval ratings and economic stagnation, led to Kishida's resignation in August. His successor, Prime Minister
Shigeru Ishiba
Shigeru Ishiba (born 4 February 1957) is a Japanese politician who has served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) since 2024. He has been a member of ...
, called for a snap election in September to bolster support. However, the LDP's attempts to distance itself from the scandal backfired when reports surfaced that the party continued to provide funds to chapters headed by implicated members. In response to the election results, the prime minister has committed to implementing fundamental reforms regarding money in politics. The LDP's coalition partner,
Komeito
, formerly New Komeito (NKP) and commonly referred to as simply Komei, is a political party in Japan founded by the leader of Soka Gakkai, Daisaku Ikeda, in 1964. It is generally considered centrist and socially conservative. Since 2012, i ...
, also performed poorly, with its leader Keiichi Ishii losing his seat and subsequently announcing his resignation. This electoral setback is particularly significant for the LDP, which has held power almost continuously since 1955, highlighting the impact of the corruption scandal on public trust in the party.
Ideology and political stance
The LDP is usually associated with conservatism,
Japanese nationalism
Japanese nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that the Japanese people, Japanese are a monolithic nation with a single immutable culture. Over the last two centuries, it has encompassed a broad range of ideas and sentimen ...
and being on the
political right
Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property, ...
of the
political spectrum
A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different Politics, political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more Geometry, geometric Coordinate axis, axes that represent independent political ...
.
The LDP has been described as a variety of disparate ideologies such as
conservative-liberal,
liberal-conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
,
social-conservative,
ultranationalist
Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific ...
, and
ultraconservative
Ultraconservatism refers to extreme conservative views in politics or religious practice. In modern politics, ''ultraconservative'' usually refers to conservatives of the far-right on the political spectrum, comprising groups or individuals wh ...
. The party though has not espoused a well-defined, unified ideology or
political philosophy
Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and Political legitimacy, legitimacy of political institutions, such as State (polity), states. This field investigates different ...
, due to its long-term government, and has been described as a "
catch-all" party.
The LDP members hold a variety of positions that could be broadly defined as being to the right of main opposition parties. Many of its ministers, including former Prime Ministers
Fumio Kishida
Fumio Kishida (born 29 July 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) from 2021 to 2024. He has been a member of the House of Representatives in the National Diet ...
,
Yoshihide Suga
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2020 to 2021. He had served as Chief Cabinet Secretary during the second administration ...
[Abe's reshuffle promotes right-wingers]
(Korea Joongang Daily – 2014/09/05) and
Shinzo Abe
Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...
, are/were affiliated with the parliamentary league of
Nippon Kaigi
is Japan's largest ultraconservative and ultranationalist far-right non-governmental organisation and lobbying group. It was established in 1997 and has approximately 38,000 to 40,000 members as of 2020.
The group has significant influence i ...
, a
far-right
Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...
ultraconservative
Ultraconservatism refers to extreme conservative views in politics or religious practice. In modern politics, ''ultraconservative'' usually refers to conservatives of the far-right on the political spectrum, comprising groups or individuals wh ...
lobby group. In Japanese politics, the convention is to classify the Liberal Democratic Party and the
Japanese Communist Party
The is a communist party in Japan. Founded in 1922, it is the oldest political party in the country. It has 250,000 members as of January 2024, making it one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party is chaired ...
as occupying the conservative and progressive ends of the ideological spectrum respectively. However, this classification has faced challenges, especially among younger generations, since the 1990s.
The LDP has also been compared to the
corporatist
Corporatism is an ideology and political system of interest representation and policymaking whereby corporate groups, such as agricultural, labour, military, business, scientific, or guild associations, come together and negotiate contracts ...
-inspired model of conservative parties, such as the
Christian Democratic Union of Germany
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany ( , CDU ) is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is the major party of the centre-right in German politics. Friedrich Merz has been federal chairman of the CDU since 31 ...
, in its relative openness towards
economic interventionism
A market intervention is a policy or measure that modifies or interferes with a market, typically done in the form of state action, but also by philanthropic and political-action groups. Market interventions can be done for a number of reas ...
,
mixed market coordination and
public expenditure
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
, when compared to neoliberal orthodoxy.
History
In the case of the LDP administration under the
1955 System in Japan, their degree of economic control was stronger than that of Western conservative governments; it was also positioned closer to
social democracy
Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...
.
Since the 1970s, the oil crisis has slowed economic growth and increased the resistance of urban citizens to policies that favor farmers.
To maintain its dominant position, the LDP sought to expand party supporters by incorporating social security policies and pollution measures advocated by opposition parties.
It was also historically closely positioned to
corporate statism
Corporate statism or state corporatism, referred to as corporativism by the Italian fascism, fascists, is a political culture and a form of corporatism the proponents of which claim or believe that corporate group (sociology), corporate groups sho ...
.
2021 manifesto
During the 2021 general election, the party released the LDP policy manifesto, titled "Create a new era together with you", which included support for policies such as:
*
Wealth redistribution
Redistribution of income and wealth is the transfer of income and wealth (including physical property) from some individuals to others through a social mechanism such as taxation, welfare, public services, land reform, monetary policies, confi ...
to revive the
Japanese economy
The economy of Japan is a highly developed mixed economy, often referred to as an East Asian model. According to the IMF forecast for 2025, it will be the fifth-largest economy in the world by nominal GDP as well as by purchasing power par ...
and empowering the middle class
* Tax breaks for corporations willing to raise wages
* Advance administrative reforms to facilitate
digital transformation
Digital transformation (DT) is the process of adoption and implementation of digital technology by an organization in order to create new or modify existing products, services and operations by the means of translating business processes into a d ...
throughout society
* High investment in science and technology and increased funds for university research
* Secure robust supply chains for critical materials, such as rare earths
* Continued development of nuclear fusion power generation, and expansion of renewable energy to achieve
carbon neutral
Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and Greenhouse gas removal, removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon diox ...
ity by 2050
* Reaching UN 2030
Sustainable Development Goals
The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...
targets
* Offer subsidies for enterprises if they move into new industries
*
Electronic COVID-19 vaccine passports
* Expanding support for small and medium businesses hit by the COVID-19 pandemic
*
Constitutional amendments
A constitutional amendment (or constitutional alteration) is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly alt ...
, including the
proposed Japanese constitutional referendum
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution Referendum is a referendum that was expected to take place in 2020. In May 2017, then Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set a 2020 deadline for revising Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, Article 9, whic ...
to formalize the current existence of the
Japan Self-Defense Forces
The are the military forces of Japan. Established in 1954, the JSDF comprises the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. They are controlled by the Ministry of Defense ...
in
Article 9 of the Constitution and creating an emergency response clause
* Raising Japan's defense budget from the current 1% to "two percent or more" of gross domestic product (GDP) and enhancing Japan's defense capabilities
* Advance understanding of
LGBT rights
Rights affecting lesbian, Gay men, gay, Bisexuality, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the Capital punishmen ...
, although the party is not in favor of
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
,
with 50% of its election candidates being "undecided" and those opposed largely outnumbering those in favor
* Acceptance of foreign workers and improving management to cover labor shortages
* Support
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
's bid to join the
CPTPP agreement and
WHO
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...
observer status
* Promoting further nuclear disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation
Factions
Since the genesis of the Liberal Democratic Party in 1955, history and internal composition has been characterized by intense
factionalism among its members since its emergence in 1955.
Despite the change of factions, their history can be traced back to their 1955 roots, a testament to the stability and institutionalized nature of Liberal Democratic Party factions. The party's history and internal composition have been characterized by intense
factionalism ever since its emergence in 1955, with its parliamentary members currently split among six factions, each of which vies for influence in the party and the government.
All major factions that have existed in the history of the party can be categorised into the following two groups: the Conservative Mainstream (保守本流), which originated from
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 ...
's
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 ...
, and the Conservative Substream (保守傍流), which traces its roots to
Ichirō Hatoyama
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1954 to 1956. During his tenure he oversaw the formation of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and restored official ...
's
Japan Democratic Party
The was a conservative political party in Japan. Existing from 1954 to 1955, the party was founded by Ichirō Hatoyama, former foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and future Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi. The party was formed on 24 November 1954 ...
.
The Conservative Mainstream has traditionally been associated with moderate, welfarist, and centrist policies and has included the
Kōchikai
was a leading faction within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), founded by bureaucrat-turned-politician Hayato Ikeda in 1957. The faction has produced five prime ministers (Ikeda, Masayoshi Ōhira, Zenkō Suzuki, Kiichi Miyazawa, and Fu ...
(historical members include
Hayato Ikeda
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1960 to 1964. He is best known for his Income Doubling Plan, which promised to double the size of Japan's economy in 10 years, and for presiding over the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. ...
,
Masayoshi Ōhira
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1978 until his death in 1980.
Born in Kagawa Prefecture, Ōhira worked in the Ministry of Finance from 1936, and served as the private secretary to Hayato Ikeda, finance mi ...
,
Kiichi Miyazawa
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1991 to 1993.
Born in Tokyo, Miyazawa graduated from Tokyo Imperial University with a law degree, and in 1942 joined the Ministry of Finance. He was first elected to the Nati ...
,
Fumio Kishida
Fumio Kishida (born 29 July 1957) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) from 2021 to 2024. He has been a member of the House of Representatives in the National Diet ...
, and
Yoshimasa Hayashi), the (
Kakuei Tanaka
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974. Known for his background in construction and earthy and tenacious political style, Tanaka is the only modern Japanese prime minister who ...
), and the
Heisei Kenkyūkai (formerly Keiseikai, with historical members include
Noboru Takeshita
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1987 to 1989.
Born in Shimane Prefecture, Takeshita attended Waseda University and was drafted into the army during the Pacific War. He was first elected to the National Diet ...
,
Keizō Obuchi
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1998 to 2000.
Born in Gunma Prefecture, Obuchi graduated from Waseda University and was first elected to the National Diet in 1963, becoming one of the youngest legislators i ...
,
Ryutarō Hashimoto, and
Toshimitsu Motegi). The only extant faction,
Shikōkai
Shikōkai () is a faction led by Tarō Asō within the Liberal Democratic Party
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usua ...
, is part of this group.
[福永文夫. (2005). 派閥構造から見た宏池会: 組織・人的構成・リクルートメント. ''獨協法学'', (67), 横-75.]
The Conservative Substream, on the other hand, has typically included hard-line and nationalistic factions such as the
Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai
Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai (, Seiwa Political Research Council), often shortened to Seiwa Kai, was a major Factions in the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), faction within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). I ...
(
Takeo Fukuda
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1976 to 1978.
Born in Gunma Prefecture and educated at Tokyo Imperial University, Fukuda served as an official in the Ministry of Finance for two decades before entering pol ...
,
Shintarō Abe
was a Japanese politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan), Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1982 to 1986. He was a leading member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). He was the fat ...
,
Junichirō Koizumi
Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2001 to 2006. He retired from politics in 200 ...
, and
Shinzō Abe
Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. He was the longest-serving pri ...
) and the
Shisuikai (formerly Seisaku Kagaku Kenkyūjo, associated with
Yasuhiro Nakasone
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1982 to 1987. His political term was best known for pushing through the privatization of state-owned companies and pursuing a hawkish and pro-U.S. fo ...
,
Bunmei Ibuki,
Shizuka Kamei, and
Toshihiro Nikai
is a former Japanese politician for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the leader of the LDP Shisuikai faction (informally called the Nikai faction), who served as the Secretary-General of the LDP from 2016 to 2021. He was previously the ...
). A notable exception within this group was the
Banchō Seisaku Kenkyūjo (founded by
Takeo Miki
was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister of Japan from 1974 to 1976.
A native of Tokushima Prefecture, Miki was educated at Meiji University and the University of Southern California. He was first elected ...
and
Kenzō Matsumura
was a Japanese politician in the prewar and postwar periods, serving stints in the cabinet as Minister of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Minister of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Japan), Minister of Agriculture and Fo ...
), which was known for its leftist and progressive policies.
In the aftermath of the slush fund scandal involving members of the Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai and the Shisuikai, then-party president and prime minister Fumio Kishida decided to dissolve all factions in January 2024. All factions, except for Shikōkai, led by former prime minister Tarō Asō, complied with this directive, making it the only extant faction.
Structure
At the apex of the LDP's formal organization is the , who can serve three three-year terms. (The presidential term was increased from two years to three years in 2002 and from two to three terms in 2017). When the party has a parliamentary majority, the party president is the
prime minister
A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
. The choice of party president is formally that of a party convention composed of
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 ...
members and local LDP figures, but in most cases, they merely approved the joint decision of the most powerful party leaders. To make the system more democratic, Prime Minister
Takeo Fukuda
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1976 to 1978.
Born in Gunma Prefecture and educated at Tokyo Imperial University, Fukuda served as an official in the Ministry of Finance for two decades before entering pol ...
introduced a "primary" system in 1978, which opened the balloting to some 1.5 million LDP members. The process was so costly and acrimonious, however, that it was subsequently abandoned in favor of the old "
smoke-filled room
In U.S. political jargon, a smoke-filled room (sometimes called a smoke-filled back room) is an exclusive, sometimes secret political gathering or round-table-style decision-making process. The phrase is generally used to suggest an inner ci ...
" method—so-called in allusion to the notion of closed discussions held in small rooms filled with
tobacco smoke
Tobacco smoke is a sooty aerosol produced by the incomplete combustion of tobacco during the smoking of cigarettes and other tobacco products. Temperatures in burning cigarettes range from about 400 °C between puffs to about 900 °C ...
.
After the party president, the most important LDP officials are the
Secretary-General
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...
(''kanjicho''), the chairmen of the LDP Executive Council (''somukaicho''), and of the .
Leadership
As of 12 November 2024:
Membership
The LDP had over 5.5 million party members in 1991. By December 2017, membership had dropped to approximately one million members.
In 2023, the LDP had 1,091,075 members, a decrease of 33,688 from the year before.
Performance in national elections until 1993
Election statistics show that, while the LDP had been able to secure a majority in the twelve House of Representatives elections from May 1958 to February 1990, with only three exceptions (December 1976, October 1979, and December 1983), its share of the popular vote had declined from a high of 57.8% in May 1958 to a low of 41.8% in December 1976, when voters expressed their disgust with the party's involvement in the
Lockheed scandal
The Lockheed bribery scandals encompassed bribes and contributions made by officials of U.S. aerospace company Lockheed from the late 1950s to the 1970s in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft. The scandal caused considerable politi ...
. The LDP vote rose again between 1979 and 1990. Although the LDP won an unprecedented 300 seats in the July 1986 balloting, its share of the popular vote remained just under 50%. The figure was 46.2% in February 1990. Following the three occasions when the LDP found itself a handful of seats shy of a majority, it was obliged to form alliances with conservative independents and the breakaway New Liberal Club. In a cabinet appointment after the October 1983 balloting, a non-LDP minister, a member of the New Liberal Club, was appointed for the first time. On 18 July 1993, in lower house elections, the LDP fell so far short of a majority that it was unable to form a government.
In the upper house, the July 1989 election represented the first time that the LDP was forced into a minority position. In previous elections, it had either secured a majority on its own or recruited non-LDP conservatives to make up the difference of a few seats.
The political crisis of 1988–89 was testimony to both the party's strength and its weakness. In the wake of a succession of issues—the pushing of a highly unpopular
consumer tax through the Diet in late 1988, the
Recruit insider trading scandal, which tainted virtually all top LDP leaders and forced the resignation of Prime Minister
Noboru Takeshita
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1987 to 1989.
Born in Shimane Prefecture, Takeshita attended Waseda University and was drafted into the army during the Pacific War. He was first elected to the National Diet ...
in April (a successor did not appear until June), the resignation in July of his successor,
Sōsuke Uno
was a Japanese politician and former Prime Minister of Japan.
Born in Shiga Prefecture, Uno enrolled in the Kobe College of Commerce before he was conscripted into the army during World War II. In 1960, he entered politics and was elected to th ...
, because of a sex scandal, and the poor showing in the upper house election—the media provided the Japanese with a detailed and embarrassing dissection of the political system. By March 1989, popular support for the Takeshita cabinet as expressed in public opinion polls had fallen to 9%. Uno's scandal, covered in magazine interviews of a "kiss and tell"
geisha
{{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha
{{nihongo, Geisha{{efn, {{IPAc-en, lang, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ., ʃ, ə, {{IPA, ja, ɡei.ɕa, ɡeː-, lang{{cite book, script-title=ja:NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典, publisher=NHK Publishing, editor= ...
, aroused the fury of female voters.
Uno's successor, the eloquent if obscure
Toshiki Kaifu
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1989 to 1991.
Born in Nagoya, Kaifu graduated from Waseda University and was first elected to the Diet in 1960 as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. He served as educ ...
, was successful in repairing the party's battered image. By January 1990, talk of the waning of conservative power and a possible socialist government had given way to the realization that, like the Lockheed affair of the mid-1970s, the Recruit scandal did not signal a significant change in who ruled Japan. The February 1990 general election gave the LDP, including affiliated independents, a comfortable, if not spectacular, majority: 275 of 512 total representatives.
In October 1991, Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu failed to attain passage of a political reform bill and was rejected by the LDP, despite his popularity with the electorate. He was replaced as prime minister by
Kiichi Miyazawa
was a Japanese politician who served as prime minister of Japan from 1991 to 1993.
Born in Tokyo, Miyazawa graduated from Tokyo Imperial University with a law degree, and in 1942 joined the Ministry of Finance. He was first elected to the Nati ...
, a long-time LDP stalwart. Defections from the LDP began in the spring of 1992, when
Morihiro Hosokawa
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1993 to 1994. He led an eight-party coalition government which was the first Japanese government not headed by a Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Libera ...
left the LDP to form the
Japan New Party
The was a Japanese political party that existed briefly from 1992 to 1994.
The party, considered liberal, was founded by Morihiro Hosokawa, a former Diet member and Kumamoto Prefecture governor, who left the Liberal Democratic Party to protest ...
. Later, in the summer of 1993, when the Miyazawa government also failed to pass political reform legislation, thirty-nine LDP members joined the opposition in a no-confidence vote. In the ensuing lower house election, more than fifty LDP members formed the
Shinseitō
The was a Japanese political party that existed in the early 1990s. It was founded in 1993 by 44 members of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), Liberal Democratic Party led by Tsutomu Hata and Ichirō Ozawa. It was instrumental in ending the LDP ...
and the
Sakigake
, known before launch as MS-T5, was Japan's first interplanetary spaceflight, interplanetary spacecraft and the first deep space probe to be launched by any country other than the US or the Soviet Union. It aimed to demonstrate the performan ...
parties, denying the LDP the majority needed to form a government.
Election results
Legislative results
House of Representatives
House of Councillors
Logos
Liberal Democratic Party of Japan logo.svg, Liberal Democratic Party's logo (before 2017)
Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (Red).svg, Liberal Democratic Party's red variant logo (since 2017)
Notes
References
*
Japan Country Studies – Library of Congress
Bibliography
*
*
* Köllner, Patrick. "The Liberal Democratic Party at 50: Sources of Dominance and Changes in the Koizumi Era", ''Social Science Japan Journal'' (Oct 2006) 9#2 pp 243–257.
* Krauss, Ellis S., and Robert J. Pekkanen. "The Rise and Fall of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party", ''Journal of Asian Studies'' (2010) 69#1 pp 5–15, focuses on the 2009 election.
* Krauss, Ellis S., and Robert J. Pekkanen, eds. ''The Rise and Fall of Japan's LDP: Political Party Organizations as Historical Institutions'' (Cornell University Press; 2010) 344 pages; essays by scholars
* Scheiner, Ethan. ''Democracy without Competition in Japan: Opposition Failure in a One-Party Dominant State'' (Cambridge University Press, 2006)
External links
The official website of the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party)
{{Authority control
Politics of Japan
Political parties established in 1955
Political parties in Japan
1955 establishments in Japan
Conservatism in Japan
Conservative parties in Japan
Japanese nationalist parties
National conservative parties
Opposition to same-sex marriage in Asia
Social conservative parties
Right-wing parties in Asia
Right-wing populism in Japan
Right-wing populist parties
Anti-communist organizations in Japan
Anti-communist parties