Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

Not to be confused with Democratic Liberal Party (Japan); Democratic Party (Japan, 2016); Liberal Party (Japan, 1998); or Liberal Party (Japan, 2016).

The Liberal Democratic Party (自由民主党, Jiyū-Minshutō), frequently abbreviated to LDP or Jimintō (自民党), is a conservative^[20] political party in Japan.

Liberal Democratic Party 自由民主党 Jiyū-Minshutō
President	Fumio Kishida
Vice President	Tarō Asō
Secretary-General	Toshimitsu Motegi
Councilors Leader	Masakazu Sekiguchi
Founders	Shigeru Yoshida Ichiro Hatoyama
Founded	15 November 1955; 67 years ago (1955-11-15)
Preceded by	Japan Democratic Party Liberal Party
Headquarters	11–23, Nagatachō 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo 100-8910, Japan
Newspaper	Jiyū Minshu^[1]
Think tank	Policy Research Council
Membership (2021)	1,136,445^[2]
Ideology	Conservatism Japanese nationalism Big tent^[3]
Political position	Right-wing^[A]^[4]
Colors	Red^[a]^[5]   Green^[b]
Slogan	"日本を守る責任"^[6]^[failed verification] "Nihon wo mamoru sekinin" ("The responsibility to protect Japan")
Anthem	"われら"^[7] "Ware-ra" ("We")
Councillors	118 / 245
Representatives	260 / 465
Prefectural assembly members^[8]	1,283 / 2,598
City, special ward, town and village assembly members^[8]	2,179 / 29,425
Election symbol
Website
Japanese www.jimin.jp English www.jimin.jp/english/
Politics of Japan Political parties Elections ^ A: The Liberal Democratic Party is a big-tent conservative party.^[9]^[10] The LDP has been also described as centre-right,^[c]^[17] but the LDP also has far-right^[d]^[18] and ultra-conservative^[19] factions, including members belonging to the ultranationalist Nippon Kaigi (see List of members of Nippon Kaigi).

The LDP has been in power almost continuously since its foundation in 1955—a period called the 1955 System—except between 1993 and 1994, and again from 2009 to 2012. In the 2012 election, it regained control of the government.^[21] After the 2021 and 2022 elections it holds 261 seats in the House of Representatives and 119 seats in the House of Councillors, and in coalition with Komeito since 1999, a governing majority in both houses.

The LDP is often described as a big tent conservative party, with several different ideological factions.^[22] While lacking a cohesive political ideology, the party's platform has historically supported neoliberal economic policies, increased defense spending and maintaining close ties with the United States.^[23][24] 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.^[25] The incumbent Prime Minister and party President is Fumio Kishida, the leader of the party's moderate Kōchikai faction.

History

Beginnings

 

Launching convention, 15 November 1955

The LDP was formed in 1955^[26] as a merger between two of Japan's political parties, the Liberal Party (自由党, Jiyutō, 1950–1955, led by Shigeru Yoshida) and the Japan Democratic Party (日本民主党, Nihon Minshutō, 1954–1955, led by Ichirō Hatoyama), both right-wing conservative parties, as a united front against the then popular Japan Socialist Party (日本社会党, Nipponshakaitō), now the Social Democratic Party (社会民主党, Shakaiminshutō). 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.^[27]

The LDP began with reforming Japan's international relations, ranging from entry into the United Nations, to establishing diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union. 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, made up of the Japan Socialist Party and the Japanese Communist Party.

From the 1950s through the 1990s, the United States Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation spent millions of dollars attempting to influence elections in Japan to favor the LDP against more leftist parties such as the Socialists and the Communists,^[28][29] although this was not revealed until the mid-1990s when it was exposed by The New York Times.^[30]

1960s to 1990s

For the majority of the 1960s, the LDP (and Japan) were led by Eisaku Satō, beginning with the hosting of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and ending in 1972 with Japanese neutrality in the Vietnam War and with the beginning of the Japanese asset price bubble. 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)) gained momentum.

In 1976, in the wake of the Lockheed bribery scandals, a handful of younger LDP Diet 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.

In 1983, the LDP was a founding member of the International Democrat Union.^[31]

 

Liberal Democratic Hall Bldg., Headquarters of the LDP in Tokyo

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.^{[citation needed]}

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 and the Recruit scandal. The party lost its majority in the House of Councillors for the first time in 34 years in the 1989 election.^[32]

Out of power

The LDP managed to hold on to power in 1990 Japanese general election despite some losses. In 1993, the end of the miracle economy and other reasons such as the recruit scandal led to the LDP losing its majority in that year's general election.

Seven opposition parties—including several formed by LDP dissidents—formed a government headed by LDP dissident Morihiro Hosokawa of the Japan New Party who became the prime minister preceded by Kiichi Miyazawa. However, the LDP was still far and away the largest party in the House of Representatives, with well over 200 seats; no other party crossed the 80-seat mark. Yohei Kono became the president of the LDP preceded by Kiichi Miyazawa, he was the first non-prime minister LDP leader as the leader of the opposition.

In 1994, the 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 a makeshift minority government, but this failed when the LDP and the Socialists, bitter rivals for 40 years, formed a majority coalition. The new government was dominated by the LDP, but it allowed a Socialist to occupy the Prime Minister's chair (Tomiichi Murayama) until 1996 when the LDP's Ryutaro Hashimoto 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 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.^{[citation needed]}

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 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 turned in his resignation, but Party President Koizumi merely demoted him in rank, and he was replaced by Tsutomu Takebe.^{[citation needed]}

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 New Komeito (party founded by Soka Gakkai) from Obuchi Second shuffle Cabinet (1999–2000).^{[citation needed]}

After a victory in the 2005 Japanese general election, the LDP held an absolute majority in the Japanese House of Representatives and formed a coalition government with the New Komeito Party. Shinzo Abe succeeded then-Prime Minister Junichirō Koizumi 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 for the first time in its history.^{[citation needed]}

The LDP remained the largest party in both houses of the Diet, until 29 July 2007, when the LDP lost its majority in the upper house.^[33]

In a party leadership election held on 23 September 2007, the LDP elected Yasuo Fukuda as its president. Fukuda defeated Tarō Asō for the post, receiving 330 votes against 197 votes for Aso.^[34][35] 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 was elected leader of the party on 28 September 2009,^[36] after a three-way race, becoming only the second LDP leader who was not simultaneously prime minister.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[37][38] Since that time, numerous party members have left to join other parties or form new ones, including Your Party (みんなの党, Minna no Tō),^{[citation needed]} the Sunrise Party of Japan (たちあがれ日本, Tachiagare Nippon),^[39] the New Renaissance Party (新党改革, Shintō Kaikaku), and the Party of Hope (希望の党, Kibō no Tō).^{[citation needed]} The party had some success in the 2010 House of Councilors election, netting 13 additional seats and denying the DPJ a majority.^[40][41] Abe became the president again in September 2012 after a five-way race. The LDP returned to power with its ally New Komeito 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 who was the leader of the DPJ.^[42]

In July 2015, the party pushed for expanded military powers to fight in foreign conflict through Shinzo Abe and the support of Komeito party.^[43]

Yoshihide Suga took over from Shinzo Abe in September 2020 after a three-way race. After Suga declined to run for re-election, successor Fumio Kishida led the party to an inevitable victory in the October 2021 Japanese general election after a four-way race.^[44]

Ideology and political stance

The LDP is usually associated with conservatism^[20] and Japanese nationalism.^[45] The party though has not espoused a well-defined, unified ideology or political philosophy, due to its long-term government, and has been described as a "catch-all" party.^[10] Its 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 current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida^[46] and former Prime Ministers Yoshihide Suga,^[47] Shinzo Abe are affiliated with the parliamentary league of Nippon Kaigi, an ultranationalist and traditionalist lobby group.^[48] In Japanese politics, the convention is to classify the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japanese Communist Party as occupying the conservative and progressive ends of the ideological spectrum respectively, however this classification faces challenges, especially among younger generations, after the 1990s.^[49]

The LDP's Japanese nationalism shows a pragmatic nature, divided internally into realist doves and nationalist hawks, as it considers China's strong economic position. However, South Korea has much weaker economic and national power than Japan, Japan's right-wing conservatives, including the LDP, show almost entirely hawkish diplomacy in South Korea. This causes great political friction with South Korean liberals with anti-imperialist sentiment toward China and Japan.^[50] VANK, a South Korean liberal-nationalist group, accused Japanese conservatives of apologizing only to China and not to South Korea for forced labor in World War II in July 2022.^[51] Almost all major South Korean media outlets point out that the LDP and its politicians have anti-Korean sentiment, and that the party's main support base is "Hate of South Korea" (Korean: 혐한; Hanja: 嫌韓).^[52][53][54] Western experts say that the conflict between the two countries intensifies the most when a conservative (Mainly LDP) regime is established in Japan and a liberal (Mainly DPK) regime is established in South Korea.^[50]

Historical

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.^[55] Since the 1970s, the oil crisis has slowed economic growth and increased the resistance of urban citizens to policies that favor farmers.^[56] To maintain its dominant position, the LDP sought to expand party supporters by incorporating social security policies and pollution measures advocated by opposition parties.^[56] It was also historically closely positioned to corporate statism.^[57][58]

Before the 1990s, the LDP was in a liberal-conservative and conservative-liberal position with a more moderate element of nationalism. The LDP opposed the JSP's socialist policy. However, after many liberals in the party left the party since the 1990s, the LDP is not classified as a liberal party.^[59][60]

Policies

During the 2021 general election the released LDP policy manifesto, titled "Create a new era together with you" included among other things support for:^[61][62][63]

• Wealth redistribution to revive the Japanese economy and empowering the middle class
• Tax breaks for corporations willing to raise wages
• Advance administrative reforms to facilitate digitalization
• 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 neutrality by 2050
• Reaching UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals 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 amendment including the proposed Japanese constitutional referendum to formalize the current existence of the Japan Self-Defense Forces 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, although the party is not in favor of same-sex marriage with 50% of its election candidates being "undecided" and those opposed largely outnumbering those in favor^[64]
• Acceptance of foreign workers and improving management to cover labor shortages
• Support Taiwan's bid to join the CPTPP agreement and WHO observer status
• Promoting further nuclear disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation

Structure

At the apex of the LDP's formal organization is the president (総裁, sōsai), who can serve three^[65] 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. The choice of party president is formally that of a party convention composed of Diet 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 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" method—so-called in allusion to the notion of closed discussions held in small rooms filled with tobacco smoke.

After the party president, the most important LDP officials are the Secretary-General (kanjicho), the chairmen of the LDP Executive Council (somukaicho), and of the Policy Affairs Research Council or "PARC" (政務調査会, seimu chōsakai).

Leadership

As of 25 June 2021:

Position	Name	House	Faction
President	Fumio Kishida	Representatives	Kōchikai
Vice-President	Tarō Asō	Representatives	Asō (Shikōkai)
Secretary-General	Toshimitsu Motegi	Representatives	Takeshita (Heisei Kenkyūkai)
Executive Acting Secretary-General	Hiroshi Kajiyama	Representatives	None
Acting Secretary-General	Kazunori Tanaka	Representatives	Asō (Shikōkai)
Chief Deputy Secretary-General	Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi	Representatives	Nikai (Shisuikai)
Chairperson, Finance Committee	Ryū Shionoya	Representatives	Hosoda (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, Election Strategy Committee	Toshiaki Endo	Representatives	Nakatani (Yurinkai)
Chairperson, Party Organization and Campaign Headquarters	Yuko Obuchi	Representatives	Takeshita (Heisei Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, Public Relations Headquarters	Taro Kono	Councillors	Asō (Shikōkai)
Chairperson, Diet Affairs Committee	Hiroshi Moriyama	Representatives	Ishihara (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, Party Ethics Committee	Seiichi Eto	Councillors	Nikai (Shisuikai)
Chairperson, General Assembly of Party Members of the House of Representatives	Hajime Funada	Representatives	Takeshita (Heisei Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, LDP Executive Council	Tatsuo Fukuda	Representatives	Hosoda (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, Joint Plenary Meeting of Party Members of Both Houses of the Diet	Hidehisa Otsuji	Councillors	Takeshita (Heisei Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, Policy Affairs Research Council	Sanae Takaichi	Representatives	None
Chairperson, General Assembly of Party Members of the House of Councillors	Masakazu Sekiguchi	Councillors	Takeshita (Heisei Kenkyūkai)
Secretary-General for the LDP in the House of Councillors	Hiroshige Sekō	Councillors	Hosoda (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai)
Executive Acting Secretary-General for the LDP in the House of Councillors	Masaharu Nakagawa	Councillors	Hosoda (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, LDP Policy Board in the House of Councillors	Satoshi Ninoyu	Councillors	Takeshita (Heisei Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, LDP Diet Affairs Committee in the House of Councillors	Shinsuke Suematsu	Councillors	Hosoda (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai)
President, Central Institute of Politics	Gen Nakatani	Representatives	None
Chairperson, Headquarters for Promoting Administrative Reform	Vacant
Chairperson, Headquarters for North Korean Abductions	Eriko Yamatani	Councillors	Hosoda (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, Headquarters for Party and Political System Reform Implementation	Yasuhisa Shiozaki	Representatives	None
Chairperson, Headquarters for the Promotion of Revision of the Constitution	Seishirō Etō	Representatives	Hosoda (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, Headquarters for Accelerating Reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake	Fukushiro Nukaga	Representatives	Takeshita (Heisei Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, Headquarters for the Action Committee for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games	Toshiaki Endo	Representatives	None
Chairperson, Headquarters for Overcoming Population Decline and Regional Revitalization	Takeo Kawamura	Representatives	Nikai (Shisuikai)
Chairperson, Headquarters for Promoting Dynamic Engagement of All Citizens	Kuniko Inoguchi	Councillors	Asō (Shikōkai)
Chairperson, Headquarters for North Korea's Nuclear Tests	Toshihiro Nikai	Representatives	Nikai (Shisuikai)
Chairperson, Economic Strategy Headquarters for Building the Future Society based on AI	Ryū Shionoya	Representatives	Hosoda (Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai)
Chairperson, Headquarters for Promoting the Establishment of a Disaster Resilient Japan	Toshihiro Nikai	Representatives	Nikai (Shisuikai)
Chairperson, Bidding Headquarters for the EXPO 2025 Osaka	Toshihiro Nikai	Representatives	Nikai (Shisuikai)
Chairperson, Headquarters for the TPP, Japan-EU EPA and the Japan-U.S. TAG	Hiroshi Moriyama	Representatives	Ishihara (Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai)

Factions

Main article: Factions in the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

Since the genesis of the Liberal Democratic Party in 1955, factions have existed, but they have changed over time. Despite this change, factions in the party today can be traced back to their 1955 roots, a testament to the stability and institutionalized nature of Liberal Democratic Party factions.^[66] 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.^[25] The incumbent Prime Minister and party President, Fumio Kishida, is the leader of the party's Kōchikai faction.

Current factions in the LDP include:

• Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyūkai (led by collective leadership)
• Shikōkai (led by Tarō Asō)^[67]
• Heisei Kenkyūkai (led by Toshimitsu Motegi)^[68]
• Kōchikai (led by Fumio Kishida)
• Shisuikai (led by Toshihiro Nikai)^[69]
• Kinmirai Seiji Kenkyūkai (led by Hiroshi Moriyama)^[70]
• Suigetsukai (led by Shigeru Ishiba)

Membership

The LDP had over five million party members in 1990.^{[citation needed]} By December 2017 membership had dropped to approximately one million members.^[2]

Performance in national elections until 1993

See also: Elections in Japan

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 percent in May 1958 to a low of 41.8 percent in December 1976, when voters expressed their disgust with the party's involvement in the Lockheed scandal.^{[citation needed]} 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 percent. The figure was 46.2 percent 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 Takeshita Noboru in April (a successor did not appear until June), the resignation in July of his successor, Uno Sōsuke, 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 percent. Uno's scandal, covered in magazine interviews of a "kiss and tell" geisha, aroused the fury of female voters.

Uno's successor, the eloquent if obscure Kaifu Toshiki, 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 Kaifu Toshiki 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 Miyazawa Kiichi, a long-time LDP stalwart. Defections from the LDP began in the spring of 1992, when Hosokawa Morihiro left the LDP to form the Japan New Party. 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 and the Sakigake parties, denying the LDP the majority needed to form a government.

Election results

Legislative results

House of Representatives

House of Representatives

Election	Leader	No. of candidates	Seats			Position	Constituency votes		PR Block votes		Status
			No.	±	Share		No.	Share	No.	Share
1958	Nobusuke Kishi	413	289 / 467		61.8%	1st	22,976,846	57.80%			Government
1960	Hayato Ikeda	399	300 / 467	11	64.2%	1st	22,740,272	57.56%			Government
1963		359	283 / 467	17	60.5%	1st	22,423,915	54.67%			Government
1967	Eisaku Satō	342	277 / 486	6	56.9%	1st	22,447,838	48.80%			Government
1969		328	288 / 486	11	59.2%	1st	22,381,570	47.63%			Government
1972	Kakuei Tanaka	339	271 / 491	17	55.1%	1st	24,563,199	46.85%			Government
1976	Takeo Miki	320	249 / 511	22	48.7%	1st	23,653,626	41.78%			Government
1979	Masayoshi Ōhira	322	248 / 511	1	48.5%	1st	24,084,131	44.59%			Government
1980		310	284 / 511	36	55.5%	1st	28,262,442	47.88%			Government
1983	Yasuhiro Nakasone	339	250 / 511	34	48.9%	1st	25,982,785	45.76%			LDP-NLC coalition
1986		322	300 / 512	50	58.5%	1st	29,875,501	49.42%			Government
1990	Toshiki Kaifu	338	275 / 512	25	53.7%	1st	30,315,417	46.14%			Government
1993	Kiichi Miyazawa	285	223 / 511	52	43.6%	1st	22,999,646	36.62%			Opposition (until 1994)
											LDP-JSP-NPS coalition (since 1994)
1996	Ryutaro Hashimoto	355	239 / 500	16	47.8%	1st	21,836,096	38.63%	18,205,955	32.76%	LDP-SDP-NPS coalition
2000	Yoshirō Mori	337	233 / 480	6	48.5%	1st	24,945,806	40.97%	16,943,425	28.31%	LDP-Komeito-NCP coalition
2003	Junichiro Koizumi	336	237 / 480	4	49.3%	1st	26,089,326	43.85%	20,660,185	34.96%	LDP-Komeito coalition
2005		346	296 / 480	59	61.6%	1st	32,518,389	47.80%	25,887,798	38.20%	LDP-Komeito coalition
2009	Tarō Asō	326	119 / 480	177	24.7%	2nd	27,301,982	38.68%	18,810,217	26.73%	Opposition
2012	Shinzo Abe	337	294 / 480	175	61.2%	1st	25,643,309	43.01%	16,624,457	27.79%	LDP-Komeito coalition
2014		352	291 / 475	3	61.2%	1st	25,461,427	48.10%	17,658,916	33.11%	LDP-Komeito coalition
2017		332	284 / 465	7	61.0%	1st	26,719,032	48.21%	18,555,717	33.28%	LDP-Komeito coalition
2021	Fumio Kishida	338	259 / 465	25	55.7%	1st	27,626,235	48.08%	19,914,883	34.66%	LDP-Komeito coalition

House of Councillors

House of Councillors

Election	Leader	Seats		Nationwide^[e]		Prefecture		Status
		Total^[f]	Contested	Number	%	Number	%
1956	Ichirō Hatoyama	122 / 250	61 / 125	11,356,874	39.7%	14,353,960	48.4%	Governing minority
1959	Nobusuke Kishi	132 / 250	71 / 125	12,120,598	41.2%	15,667,022	52.0%	Governing majority
1962	Hayato Ikeda	142 / 250	69 / 125	16,581,637	46.4%	17,112,986	47.1%	Governing majority
1965	Eisaku Satō	140 / 251	71 / 125	17,583,490	47.2%	16,651,284	44.2%	Governing majority
1968		137 / 250	69 / 125	20,120,089	46.7%	19,405,546	44.9%	Governing majority
1971		131 / 249	62 / 125	17,759,395	44.5%	17,727,263	44.0%	Governing majority
1974	Kakuei Tanaka	126 / 250	62 / 125	23,332,773	44.3%	21,132,372	39.5%	Governing majority
1977	Takeo Fukuda	125 / 249	63 / 125	18,160,061	35.8%	20,440,157	39.5%	Governing minority
1980	Masayoshi Ōhira	135 / 250	69 / 125	23,778,190	43.3%	24,533,083	42.5%	Governing majority
1983	Yasuhiro Nakasone	137 / 252	68 / 126	16,441,437	35.3%	19,975,034	43.2%	Governing majority
1986		143 / 252	72 / 126	22,132,573	38.58%	26,111,258	45.07%	Governing majority
1989	Sōsuke Uno	109 / 252	36 / 126	15,343,455	27.32%	17,466,406	30.70%	Governing minority
1992	Kiichi Miyazawa	106 / 252	68 / 126	14,961,199	33.29%	20,528,293	45.23%	Governing minority (until 1993)
								Minority (1993–1994)
								LDP-JSP-NPS governing majority (since 1994)
1995	Yōhei Kōno	111 / 252	46 / 126	10,557,547	25.40%	11,096,972	27.29%	LDP-JSP-NPS governing majority
1998	Ryutaro Hashimoto	102 / 252	44 / 126	14,128,719	25.17%	17,033,851	30.45%	LDP–(Lib.–Komeitō) governing majority (until 2000)
								LDP–Komeitō–NCP governing majority (since 2000)
2001	Junichiro Koizumi	111 / 247	64 / 121	21,114,727	38.57%	22,299,825	41.04%	LDP–Komeitō–NCP governing majority (until 2003)
								LDP–Komeitō governing majority (since 2003)
2004		115 / 242	49 / 121	16,797,686	30.03%	19,687,954	35.08%	LDP–Komeitō governing majority
2007	Shinzo Abe	83 / 242	37 / 121	16,544,696	28.1%	18,606,193	31.35%	LDP–Komeitō governing minority (until 2009)
								Minority (since 2009)
2010	Sadakazu Tanigaki	84 / 242	51 / 121	14,071,671	24.07%	19,496,083	33.38%	Minority (until 2012)
								LDP–Komeitō governing minority (since 2012)
2013	Shinzo Abe	115 / 242	65 / 121	18,460,404	34.7%	22,681,192	42.7%	LDP–Komeitō governing majority
2016		121 / 242	56 / 121	20,114,833	35.9%	22,590,793	39.9%	LDP–Komeitō governing majority
2019		113 / 245	57 / 124	17,712,373	35.37%	20,030,330	39.77%	LDP–Komeitō governing majority
2022	Fumio Kishida	119 / 248	63 / 125	18,256,245	34.43%	20,603,298	38.74%	LDP–Komeitō governing majority

Leadership elections

date		1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	spoilt vote^[71]
5 April 1956		Ichirō Hatoyama	Nobusuke Kishi	Jōji Hayashi	Tanzan Ishibashi Mitsujirō Ishii Shūji Masutani Banboku Ohno	Ichirō Kōno Mamoru Shigemitsu Tsuruhei Matsuno Hayato Ikeda			5
		394	4	3	2	1
14 December 1956	First round	Nobusuke Kishi	Tanzan Ishibashi	Mitsujirō Ishii					0
		223	151	137
	Runoff	Tanzan Ishibashi	Nobusuke Kishi						0
		258	251
21 March 1957		Nobusuke Kishi	Kenzō Matsumura	Mitsujirō Ishii Tokutarō Kitamura					0
		471	2	1
14 January 1959		Nobusuke Kishi	Kenzō Matsumura	Banboku Ohno Shigeru Yoshida Mitsujirō Ishii Shūji Masutani Eisaku Satō					0
		320	166	1
14 July 1960	First round	Hayato Ikeda	Mitsujirō Ishii	Aiichirō Fujiyama	Kenzō Matsumura	Banboku Ohno			0
		246	196	49	5	1
	Runoff	Hayato Ikeda	Mitsujirō Ishii						0
		302	194
14 July 1962		Hayato Ikeda	Eisaku Satō	Hisato Ichimada	Nobusuke Kishi	Aiichirō Fujiyama	Shigeru Yoshida Takeo Fukuda	Hitoshi Takahashi Matsutarō Shōriki	0
		391	17	6	5	3	2	1
10 July 1964		Hayato Ikeda	Eisaku Satō	Aiichirō Fujiyama	Hirokichi Nadao				0
		242	160	72	1
1 December 1964		Eisaku Satō	One candidate (elected by Ikeda)
1 December 1966		Eisaku Satō	Aiichirō Fujiyama	Shigesaburō Maeo	Hirokichi Nadao	Uichi Noda	Zentarō Kosaka	Nobusuke Kishi Kenzō Matsumura Isamu Murakami	0
		289	89	47	11	9	2	1
27 November 1968		Eisaku Satō	Takeo Miki	Shigesaburō Maeo	Aiichirō Fujiyama				0
		249	107	95	1
29 October 1970		Eisaku Satō	Takeo Miki	Saburō Chiba Aiichirō Fujiyama Tokuma Utsunomiya					0
		353	111	1
5 July 1972	First round	Kakuei Tanaka	Takeo Fukuda	Masayoshi Ōhira	Takeo Miki				7
		156	150	101	69
	Runoff	Kakuei Tanaka	Takeo Fukuda						0
		282	190
4 December 1974		Takeo Miki	One candidate (elected by Vice-President Etsusaburō Shiina)
23 December 1976		Takeo Fukuda	One candidate (elected by discussion at the general meeting of LDP National Diet members of both houses)
26 November 1978	Primaries ^[72]	Masayoshi Ōhira	Takeo Fukuda	Yasuhiro Nakasone	Toshio Kōmoto				0
		748 pts	638 pts	93 pts	46 pts
	Runoff	Masayoshi Ōhira	2nd candidate withdrew
15 July 1980		Zenkō Suzuki	One candidate (elected by Vice-President Eiichi Nishimura)
27 November 1980		Zenkō Suzuki	One candidate (re-elected without voting in the leadership election due to the expiration of the term of office of Suzuki)
24 November 1982	Primaries ^[73]	Yasuhiro Nakasone	Toshio Kōmoto	Shintaro Abe	Ichiro Nakagawa				0
		559673	265078	80443	66041
	Runoff	Yasuhiro Nakasone	2nd and below candidates withdrew
30 October 1984		Yasuhiro Nakasone	One candidate (re-elected without voting in the leadership election due to the expiration of the term of office of Nakasone)
11 September 1986		Yasuhiro Nakasone	Extension of term of office by one year (Unanimously re-elected Nakasone's term of office at the general meeting of LDP National Diet members of both houses)
31 Octobe 1987		Noboru Takeshita	One candidate (elected by Nakasone)
2 June 1989		Sōsuke Uno	One candidate (elected by Takeshita)
8 August 1989		Toshiki Kaifu	Yoshiro Hayashi	Shintaro Ishihara					0
		279	120	48
31 October 1989		Toshiki Kaifu	One candidate (re-elected without voting in the leadership election due to the expiration of the term of office of Kaifu)
27 October 1991		Kiichi Miyazawa	Michio Watanabe	Hiroshi Mitsuzuka					0
		285	120	87
30 July 1993		Yōhei Kōno	Michio Watanabe						0
		208	159
30 September 1993		Yōhei Kōno	One candidate (re-elected without voting in the leadership election due to the expiration of the term of office of Kōno)
22 September 1995		Ryutaro Hashimoto	Junichiro Koizumi						0
		304	87
11 September 1997		Ryutaro Hashimoto	One candidate (re-elected without voting in the leadership election due to the expiration of the term of office of Hashimoto)
24 July 1998		Keizō Obuchi	Seiroku Kajiyama	Junichiro Koizumi					0
		225	102	84
21 September 1999		Keizō Obuchi	Koichi Kato	Taku Yamasaki					0
		350	113	51
5 April 2000		Yoshirō Mori	One candidate (elected by discussion at the general meeting of LDP National Diet members of both houses)
24 April 2001		Junichiro Koizumi	Ryutaro Hashimoto	Tarō Asō	(Shizuka Kamei withdrew after the ballot counting)				3
		298	155	31
10 August 2001		Junichiro Koizumi	One candidate (re-elected without voting in the leadership election due to the expiration of the term of office of Koizumi)
20 September 2003		Junichiro Koizumi	Shizuka Kamei	Takao Fujii	Masahiko Kōmura				0
		399	139	65	54
20 September 2006 (Detail)		Shinzo Abe	Tarō Asō	Sadakazu Tanigaki					1
		464	136	102
23 September 2007 (Detail)		Yasuo Fukuda	Tarō Asō						1
		330	197
22 September 2008 (Detail)		Tarō Asō	Kaoru Yosano	Yuriko Koike	Nobuteru Ishihara	Shigeru Ishiba			2
		351	66	46	37	25
28 September 2009 (Detail)		Sadakazu Tanigaki	Taro Kono	Yasutoshi Nishimura					1
		300	144	54
26 September 2012	First round	Shigeru Ishiba	Shinzo Abe	Nobuteru Ishihara	Nobutaka Machimura	Yoshimasa Hayashi			1
		199	141	96	34	27
	Runoff	Shinzo Abe	Shigeru Ishiba						1
		108	89
8 September 2015		Shinzo Abe	One candidate (re-elected without voting in the leadership election due to the expiration of the term of office of Abe)
20 September 2018 (Detail)		Shinzo Abe	Shigeru Ishiba						3
		553	254
14 September 2020 (Detail)		Yoshihide Suga	Fumio Kishida	Shigeru Ishiba					0
		377	89	68
29 September 2021 (Detail)	First round	Fumio Kishida	Taro Kono	Sanae Takaichi	Seiko Noda				1
		256	255	188	63
	Runoff	Fumio Kishida	Taro Kono						1
		257	170

Logos

•  

  Liberal Democratic Party's logo (before 2017)

•  

  Liberal Democratic Party's red variant logo (since 2017)

See also

•  Japan portal
•  conservatism portal

• History of Japan
• Neoconservatism in Japan
• Honebuto no hōshin
• Komeito
• Nippon Ishin no Kai
• Japan Business Federation
• Yomiuri Shimbun
• The Asahi Shimbun – Historically closely related to Kōchikai (see Taketora Ogata, Ichiro Kono, Seiichi Tagawa and Tomisaburo Hashimoto). The Asahi Shimbun supports the Kishida administration.
• Mainichi Shimbun – It has a historical relationship with the Heisei Kenkyukai (Keynesian principle). However, the relationship with the faction is not as strong as the Asahi Shimbun.
• Nihon Keizai Shimbun
• Sankei Shimbun – Historically closely related to Seiwakai
• Netto-uyoku
• Nippon Kaigi
• Law and Justice (Poland)
• People Power Party (South Korea)
• Bharatiya Janata Party (India)
• Liberal Party (Brazil, 2006) – This is another right-wing conservative party with "liberal" in its name.
• Dentsu – Advertising agency (semi-governmental)
• Unification Church
• List of political parties in Japan
• Politics of Japan
• Reactionary (since 2012)

Notes

1. since 2017
2. before 2017; English website
3. The Liberal Democratic Party has been also described as national-conservative,^[11] socially conservative,^[12][13] and liberal-conservative.^[14][15] The Asahi Shimbun, a centre-left newspaper, evaluated that there is a liberal faction within the LDP (representatively, there is Kōchikai).^[16]
4. Some sources also assessed that the LDP was founded with funds from ultranationalist, and some sources refer to the LDP as far-right ultranationalist:
   • Matthew Pointon, ed. (2017). Across Asia With A Lowlander. Lulu.com. p. 12. ISBN 9780244043544. Ever since the culmination of the Second World War, the far right Liberal Democratic Party has firmly held the reigns of power, with only a couple of minor interruptions.
   • "Beautiful Harmony: Political Project Behind Japan's New Era Name – Analysis". eurasia review. 16 July 2019. The shifting dynamics around the new era name (gengō 元号) offers an opportunity to understand how the domestic politics of the LDP's project of ultranationalism is shaping a new Japan and a new form of nationalism.
   • Margaret DiCanio PhD, ed. (2004). Encyclopedia of Violence. iUniverse. ISBN 9780595316526. In 1955, with funds from the ultranationalists, the conservatives merged the Liberal Party with the Democratic Party to form the Liberal Democratic Party (LPD), which effectively held the Japanese Communist Party in check.
5. From 1947 to 1980, 50 members were elected through a nationwide constituency, known as the "national block" (Plurality-at-large voting). It was replaced in 1983 by a proportional representation block with closed lists. In 2001, the PR block was reduced to 48 members with most open lists.
6. The Upper house is split in two classes, one elected every three years.

References

•   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division.
• Japan Country Studies – Library of Congress

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3. Glenn D. Hook; Julie Gilson; Christopher W. Hughes; Hugo Dobson (2001). Japan's International Relations: Politics, Economics and Security. Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-134-32806-2. Retrieved 24 September 2020. The LDP is a 'catch-all', diverse political party, which is reflected in its make-up and the party's complex and shifting range of views on Japan's international relations.
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44. Murakami, Sakura; Park, Ju-min; Takenaka, Kiyoshi (1 November 2021). "Japan's Kishida defies expectations as ruling LDP easily keeps majority". Reuters. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
45. Sources describing the LDP as nationalist:
    • "The Resurgence of Japanese Nationalism". 22 July 2015. from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
    • "As Hiroshima's legacy fades, Japan's postwar pacifism is fraying". The Conversation UK. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 21 February 2020. Even though much of the Japanese public does not agree with the LDP's nationalist platform, the party won big electoral victories by promising to replace the DPJ's weakness with strong leadership – particularly on the economy, but also in foreign affairs.
    • "Why Steve Bannon Admires Japan". The Diplomat. 22 June 2018. In Japan, populist and extreme right-wing nationalism has found a home within the political establishment.
    • "Shinzo Abe and the rise of Japanese nationalism". New Statesman. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2020. As a new emperor takes the throne, prime minister Abe is consolidating his ultranationalist "beautiful Japan" project. But can he overcome a falling population and stagnating economy?
    • A Weiss (31 May 2018). Towards a Beautiful Japan: Right-Wing Religious Nationalism in Japan's LDP.
46. Mark, Craig (29 September 2021). "Who is Fumio Kishida, Japan's new prime minister?". The Conversation. Retrieved 26 July 2022.
47. "Abe's reshuffle promotes right-wingers" (Korea Joongang Daily – 2014/09/05)
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49. Willy Jou, Masahisa Endo, ed. (2016). EGenerational Gap in Japanese Politics: A Longitudinal Study of Political Attitudes and Behaviour. Springer. p. 29. ISBN 9781137503428. Conventional wisdom, still dominant in media and academic circles, holds that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) occupy the conservative and progressive ends of the ideological spectrum, ...
50. Buruma, Ian (12 August 2019). "Opinion | Where the Cold War Never Ended". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
51. 일, 강제노역 사과 중국에만···반크 "사도광산 유네스코 등재 반대". Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). 23 July 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
52. ""일본 전철에 한글 표기는 낭비" 日 정치인 혐한 트윗". YTN.
53. ""한국은 약속이라는 개념이 없다"… 日정부, 혐한 분위기 팽배". 조선일보.
54. ""일방적 구애" 대일 저자세 외교…과정도 결과도 부적절했다". 한겨레. 기시다 총리로선 확실한 지지기반인 '반한·혐한' 세력의 반대를 무릅쓰고, 한-일 관계 개선을 위한 정상회담에 나설 국내 정치적 동기가 약하다는 뜻이다.
55. Kume, Ikuo [in Japanese]; Kawade, Yoshie [in Japanese]; Kojo, Yoshiko [in Japanese]; Tanaka, Aiji [in Japanese]; Mabuchi, Masaru [in Japanese] (2011). Political Science: Scope and Theory, revised ed. New Liberal Arts Selection (in Japanese). Yuhikaku Publishing. p. 26. ISBN 978-4-641-05377-9. ただし、日本の55年体制下の自民党政権の場合は欧米の保守政権に比べるとかなり経済的統制の度合いが強く、社会民主主義により近い場所に位置した。
56. Iio, Jun [in Japanese] (2019). Gendai nihon no seiji. Hōsō daigaku kyōzai (in Japanese). Hōsō daigaku kyōiku shinkōkai. p. 104. ISBN 978-4-595-31946-4.
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59. Tetsuya Kobayashi (1976). Society, Schools, and Progress in Japan. Elsevier Science. p. 68. ISBN 978-1483136226.
60. Japan Almanac. Mainichi Newspapers. 1975. p. 43. In the House of Representatives, the Liberal-Democratic Party, guided by conservative liberalism, is the No.1 party holding a total of 279 seats or 56.8 per cent of the House quorum of 491.
61. "Japan's ruling party unveils manifesto with focus on coronavirus, defence". Reuters. 12 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
62. Jimintō (2021). "Reiwa 3 Policy BANK" (PDF) (in Japanese).
63. "Pre-election briefing: Here's where the parties stand on the issues". Japan Times. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
64. "Survey: LDP support rises for LGBT bill, dual surnames". Asahi. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
65. seokhwai@st (5 March 2017). "New rules give Japan's Shinzo Abe chance to lead until 2021". The Straits Times.
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68. "LDP faction led by Toshimitsu Motegi launched". The Japan Times. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
69. "Nikai faction gets plum LDP roles for giving early support to Suga | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis". The Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
70. Johnston, Eric (17 November 2021). "The state of play for the LDP's factions after October's Lower House election". The Japan Times. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
71. Since the leadership election before 1972 is not a candidacy system, votes for members who did not campaign are also calculated as valid votes.
72. Primary election by general party members. With a point system in which 1000 votes are calculated as 1 point and distributed proportionally to the top two candidates, the two candidates in the primary election will advance to runoff by members of the National Diet.
73. Primary election by general party members. With a total vote system, the top three candidates will advance to runoff.

Bibliography

• Helms, Ludger (2013). Parliamentary Opposition in Old and New Democracies. Routledge Press. ISBN 978-1-31797-031-6.
• Henderson, Jeffrey (2011). East Asian Transformation: On the Political Economy of Dynamism, Governance and Crisis. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-13684-113-2.
• 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

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liberal Democratic Party of Japan.

• The official website of the LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) (in English)