Japanese liberalism formed in the nineteenth century as a reaction against traditional society. In the twentieth century 'liberal' gradually became a synonym for

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 ...

, 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 A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

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 The was a major socialist and progressive political party in Japan which existed from 1945 to 1996. The party was the primary representative of the Japanese left and main opponent of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party for most of its ex ...

(JSP). * Until the 1990s,

conservative liberalism Conservative liberalism, also referred to as right-liberalism, is a variant of liberalism combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right wing of the liberal movement. In the case of modern con ...

(right-wing liberalism) in Japan was led by 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 usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

(LDP), and they contrasted with left-wing liberalism. Since the 1990s, most conservative liberals have left the LDP. 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 ...

(JNP) and

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 ...

are the parties founded by Japanese conservative-liberals against the LDP's nationalist project, which lead to the

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, ...

(DPJ)-liberalism tradition. Japan's previous liberal party, the DPJ, was led by

moderate Moderate is an ideological category which entails centrist views on a liberal-conservative spectrum. It may also designate a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. Political position Canad ...

s 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 The is a Liberalism, liberal List of political parties in Japan, political party in Japan. It is the primary centre-left politics, centre-left party in Japan, and as of 2024 is the second largest party in the National Diet behind the ruling L ...

(CDPJ). Since Japanese conservatism was influenced by

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

, Japan's radical liberalism and

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic ideology, economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and wor ...

were more influenced by

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. As the LDP becomes an increasingly solid

party, and the

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

movement that led the traditional anti-LDP camp has lost control in Japan's opposition political camp, gradually shifting from the

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

"liberal" in the European and

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

sense of the past to the

centre-left Centre-left politics is the range of left-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. Ideologies commonly associated with it include social democracy, social liberalism, progressivism, and green politics. Ideas commo ...

"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 * 1881: The Aikoku Kōtō is continued by the * 1891: The Jiyūtō is renamed into * 1898: The Rikken Jiyūtō merged with the ⇒ Shimpotō into the * 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

From Constitutional Reform Party to Reform Club

* 1882: The is formed * 1896: The party is continued by the * 1898: The party merged into the ⇒ Kenseitō * 1898: The Kenseitō fell apart and a faction formed the , renamed in 1910 into the * 1913: A faction seceded as the ⇒ Rikken Dōshikai * 1922: The Rikken Kokumintō is renamed * 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 , renamed in 1916 * 1927: The Kenseikai merged with the ⇒ Seiyūhontō into the * 1940: The party is dissolved by the military junta

Orthodox Constitutional Friends Party

* 1924: A faction of the Rikken Seiyūkai formed the * 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 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� ...

, 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

, and the center-left progressive-liberals (革新自由主義) formed the ' rightist faction' within the left-wing

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

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 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 * 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 The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

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 The is a conservative and centre-right to right-wing populist political party in Japan. Formed as Initiatives from Osaka in October 2015 from a split in the old Japan Innovation Party, the party became the third-biggest opposition party in ...

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 was a Conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Japan, political party in Japan founded by Governor of Tokyo, Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike. The party was founded just before the call of the 2017 Japanese general election, 2017 gen ...

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

File:Fukuzawa Yukichi 1891.jpg, link=, File:ITAGAKI Taisuke.jpg, link=, File:Shigenobu Okuma 2.JPG, link=, Prime minister File:Kato takaaki.jpg, link=, Prime minister File:Yukio Ozaki.jpg, link=, File:Tokuzō Fukuda.jpg, link=, File:Reijiro Wakatsuki.jpg, link=, Prime minister File:Inukai Tsuyoshi.jpg, link=, Prime minister File:Shigeru Yoshida suit.jpg, link=, Prime minister File:Hatoyama Ichirō.jpg, link=, Prime minister File:ISHIBASHI Tanzan.jpg, link=, Prime minister File:Hayato Ikeda 1962 (cropped).jpg, link=, Prime minister File:Masao-Maruyama-1.png, link=, File:Morihiro Hosokawa 19930809.jpg, link=, Prime minister File:Yukio Hatoyama Profile.jpg, link=, Prime minister File:Naoto Kan 20071221.jpg, link=, Prime minister File:Yukio Edano In front of Tenjin Twin Building (2020.10.18) (cropped).jpg, link=, Leader Yukio Edano of the CDPJ File:Kenta Izumi and Katsuya Okada (cropped).png, link=, Leader Kenta Izumi of the CDPJ

Notes

References

{{Asia topic, Liberalism in Politics of Japan Liberalism by country