List of political parties 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 Diet, either in the House of Representatives or in the House of Councillors. The article also mentions political parties within the nation that either used to be within representation, or parties that currently are.

Current parties

Main parties

Legal status as a political party is tied to having five members in the Diet or one member and at least two percent nationally of either proportional or majoritarian vote in one of the three elections of the current members of the National Diet, i.e. the last House of Representatives general election and the last two House of Councillors regular elections. Political parties receive public party funding, are allowed to concurrently nominate candidates for the House of Representatives in an electoral district and on a proportional list, may take political donations from legal persons, i.e. corporations, and other benefits such as air time on public broadcaster NHK.

Local parties

Under Japanese law, all of the parties below are "political organizations", not "political parties".

Parties represented in prefectural assemblies

Other parties represented in local councils

Other parties

Active political parties that used to be in the Diet but are not currently represented:Rikken Yōseikai
Japan has other minor parties not represented in Parliament, some are new, others with communist and socialist ideologies, as well as a few nationalist, reformist, and far-right parties. Some of them include:

Defunct parties

Former major parties

  • Liberal Party : initially Constitutional Liberal Party, the strongest party in the early House of Representatives and the mainstream liberal opposition to government military spending and foreign policy
  • Progressive Party : created during a temporary alliance between Liberals and the oligarchy
  • Constitutional Party : formed by a merger of Liberal and Progressive Party
  • True Constitutional Party : breakaway of liberals discontented with the alliance with the government Rikken Seiyūkai: formed in 1900 by a now permanent alliance between parts of the Meiji oligarchy, the bureaucracy and members of the liberal parties it became the dominant force in party politics throughout the Empire
  • Constitutional People's Party
  • Rikken Dōshikai, another attempt by Katsura Tarō to form a strong opposition to the Seiyūkai
  • Constitutional Assembly
  • True Seiyū Party : a Seiyūkai breakaway during the "three constitutional factions" alliance between Seiyūkai, Kenseikai and Kakushin Club
  • Constitutional Democratic Party
  • Imperial Rule Assistance Association
  • Japanese Liberal Party
  • Japanese Progressive Party : conservative party around former Minseitō politicians
  • Japanese Socialist Party, a small minority before the war, the Socialists became the main opposition to the soon united conservatives, but continually lost ground to more centrist opposition parties over the decades
  • Summer breeze assembly, created as the largest parliamentary group in the first House of Councillors by conservatives and some liberals and moderate socialists including a number of former House of Peers members, it had a centrist approach and was willing to work with centre-left and centre-right cabinets
  • Democratic Party (1947) : created by the Progressive Party and a Liberal breakaway group, the party tried to occupy the "centre" between Liberals and Socialists, but was soon divided over cooperation with either group
  • [Democratic Liberal Party (Japan, 1890)|Liberal Party (Japan)|Democratic Liberal Party]
  • Liberal Party : created after the Democrats had finally split over cooperation with the Liberal government, but soon divided itself into followers of first JLP president Hatoyama Ichirō who returned to politics when the SCAP purge was lifted and the "Yoshida school" of his successor Yoshida Shigeru. forefather of Liberal Democratic Party
  • Japanese Democratic Party : Hatoyama-led breakaway from the liberals merged with smaller groups including the opposition remnants of the Democratic Party; the "conservative merger" of 1955 united Liberal Party and Japanese Democratic Party in the Liberal Democratic Party that dominated postwar politics for decades. Forefather of Liberal Democratic Party.
  • New Frontier Party, formed after an anti-LDP government had collapsed to create a unified opposition party ranging from socialists to conservatives
  • Democratic Party of Japan : the DPJ was founded in 1998 as a result of the merger of several anti-LDP opposition parties, and was the ruling party in 2009–2012. Its membership covered a broad spectrum of political beliefs, but it was generally considered a centrist party.
  • Japan Restoration Party : the JRP was founded by Tōru Hashimoto the Governor of Osaka Prefectire in 2012 as a result of the merger of several right-wing regional parties, and was the third biggest political block in the National Diet.
  • Japan Innovation Party : formed by a merger of the right-wing JRP and centre-right Unity Party, the Osaka regional group split off the JIP as Initiatives from Osaka in 2015 and the centre-right JIP later merged with the DPJ.
  • Democratic Party : formed by a merger of the remainder of JIP and the DPJ, the party splinter during the 2017 general election among four groups: the centre-left CDP, the centre-right Kibō no Tō, group of centre align independent block, and the a centre align block remain with the DP. After the election, the more left-leaning centre group join the CDP or remain independent, while the right-leaning centre group merged with the Kibō no Tō to established the DPP.
  • Free Education For All : A political party that existed from 30 November 2023 to 3 October 2024 and had four members of the House of Representatives and one member of the House of Councillors. It merged into Nippon Ishin no Kai on 3 October 2024.

Others

Pre- and early constitutional era

  • Freedom and People's Rights Movement and liberal parties in the early House of Representatives
  • * Public Party of Patriots
  • * Self-help Society
  • * Patriot Society
  • * Liberal Party
  • * Constitutional Progressive Party, merged with other groups to form the Progressive Party
  • * Daidō Club
  • * Liberal Party, merged with other groups to form the Rikken Jiyūtō
  • * Oriental Liberal Party, asianist, radical liberal
  • Opponents and "moderate faction" in the early House of Representatives
  • * Constitutional Imperial Rule Party
  • * Great Achievement Association
  • * People's Liberal Party
  • * Central Negotiations Assembly
  • * People's Association
  • * Great Japanese Association
  • * Independent Club
  • * Same-minded Club

Empire of Japan until 1940

In 1940, all remaining political parties with the exception of the Tōhōkai became part of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association or were banned.

Postwar Japan

''Note: Postwar parties often give themselves "English" names which sometimes differ significantly from translations of their Japanese names.''
LDP precursor and breakaway parties