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57-457: The party has been referred to by some commentators and political scientists as a fringe or joke party, despite having seen occasional success in national elections. Its candidates and officeholders, who are often YouTubers or other Internet celebrities , have been frequent sources of controversy. The party changed its name several times, with its most recent change in November 2023. The party

114-399: 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 , Yoshihide Suga and Shinzo Abe , are/were affiliated with the parliamentary league of Nippon Kaigi , a far-right ultraconservative lobby group. In Japanese politics,

171-552: 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. In July 2015, the party pushed for expanded military powers to fight in foreign conflict through Shinzo Abe and the support of Komeito . Yoshihide Suga took over from Shinzo Abe in September 2020 after

228-523: 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. The LDP remained the largest party in both houses of the Diet , until 29 July 2007, when

285-488: 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

342-584: 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 . 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

399-661: A national political party was revoked in January 2024 after the party lost all of its seats in the National Diet after the Otsu wing leadership expelled both members of the House of Councillors for aligning with Tachibana. However, the two still refer to themselves as members of the party through the parliamentary group with the same name as the party . Bankruptcy proceedings commenced on the party on 14 March 2024. The founder of

456-445: A press conference, where he announced former child actress Ayaka Otsu as his successor, and the rebranding of the party to Seijika Joshi 48 tō ( 政治家女子48党 , Politician Girls 48 Party). A month later on 7 April 2023, Tachibana held a press conference and announced that Otsu had been expelled from the party on the previous day, stating that Otsu "posed a risk of dissolving the party." Tachibana then announced that he would return to

513-576: 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 . 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 faction split to form the New Party Sakigake . The end of

570-580: A three-way race . After Suga declined to run for re-election, successor Fumio Kishida 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 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

627-521: A three-way race, becoming only the second LDP leader who was not simultaneously prime minister. 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 Your Party ( みんなの党 , Minna no Tō ) ,

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684-594: Is a list of frivolous political parties. Some more serious political parties, such as the Rent Is Too Damn High Party , may use the same tactics and humorous approaches to politics as their more frivolous counterparts but aim to address legitimate sociopolitical issues, something that some frivolous parties do not do. Liberal Democratic Party of Japan Alternative symbol The Liberal Democratic Party ( 自由民主党 , Jiyū-Minshutō ) , frequently abbreviated to LDP or Jimintō ( 自民党 ) ,

741-654: Is a major conservative and nationalist political party in Japan. Since its foundation in 1955, the LDP has been in power almost continuously—a period called the 1955 System —except between 1993 and 1994, and again from 2009 to 2012. The LDP was formed in 1955 as a merger of two conservative parties, the Liberal Party and the Japan Democratic Party , and was initially led by prime minister Ichirō Hatoyama . The LDP supported Japan's alliance with

798-469: Is currently in a leadership dispute between Tachibana and Ayaka Otsu since April 2023. As of April 2024, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications recognizes Otsu as the sole leader of the party. Despite this, most of the party defected and switched allegiance to Tachibana, resulting in a deadlock where Otsu is the de jure leader while Tachibana is the de facto leader. The party's status as

855-483: Is usually associated with conservatism, Japanese nationalism and being on the political right of the political spectrum . The LDP has been described as a variety of disparate ideologies such as conservative-liberal , liberal-conservative , social-conservative , ultranationalist , and ultraconservative . 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

912-428: 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 , after

969-498: The 2017 general election , the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) has been its primary opponent in national politics. The LDP is often described as a big tent conservative 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

1026-539: The Liberal Party ( 自由党 , Jiyutō , 1950–1955, led by Taketora Ogata ) and the Japan Democratic Party ( 日本民主党 , Nihon Minshutō , 1954–1955, led by Ichirō Hatoyama ) , both 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

1083-654: The Satō–Kishi–Abe family . 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

1140-590: The Sunrise Party of Japan ( たちあがれ日本 , Tachiagare Nippon ) and the New Renaissance Party ( 新党改革 , Shintō Kaikaku ) . 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 after winning

1197-463: The yakuza . The party issues a special sticker that would allegedly protect citizen's properties and residences from these collectors and has a call center to assist people in avoid paying the license fee. While it is required by law to make a contract with NHK and pay if one owns a device capable of receiving the NHK signal (for example, a regular TV), the law does not impose any punishment for nonpayment of

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1254-426: The 21st century, maintaining close relations with its Indo-Pacific 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. The incumbent party president is Shigeru Ishiba , since 27 September 2024. The LDP was formed in 1955 as a merger between two of Japan's political parties,

1311-778: 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 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 ) all announced their intention to dissolve entirely in hopes of restoring public trust. Several LDP lawmakers were indicted, including incumbent lawmakers Yasutada Ōno and Yaichi Tanigawa , who both resigned from

1368-853: The Japan Socialist Party and the Japanese Communist Party . From the 1950s to the early 1970s, the United States Central Intelligence Agency 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 . Details remain classified, while available documents show connections to prime ministers Nobusuke Kishi and Eisaku Satō from

1425-732: 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 Democracy Union . 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

1482-402: The LDP lost its majority in the upper house . 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. 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

1539-476: 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 . On 10 November 2003, the New Conservative Party ( Hoshu Shintō ) was absorbed into

1596-560: 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). After a victory in the 2005 Japanese general election , the LDP held an absolute majority in the Japanese House of Representatives and formed

1653-581: The NHK License Fee Non-Payment Party ([NHK受信料不払い党] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |label= ( help ) , NHK jushinryō fubarai tō ) on 17 June 2013, but changed its name a month later on 23 July 2013 to The Party to Protect the People from NHK ([NHKから国民を守る党] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |label= ( help ) , NHK kara kokumin o mamoru tō ), commonly shortened to N-Koku Party ( N国党 ) or just N-Koku. Its name

1710-516: The Otsu-wing announced the rebranding of the party to The Collaborative Party ( みんなでつくる党 ). The changed was approved by the MIC. List of frivolous political parties A frivolous party or a joke party is a political party which has been created for the purposes of entertainment or political satire . Such a party may or may not have a serious point behind its activities. This

1767-560: The People from NHK". The party again changed its name to The Party that Teaches How to Not Pay the NHK License Fee ( NHK受信料を支払わない方法を教える党 , NHK jushinryō o shiharawanai hōhō o oshieru tō ) on 5 February 2021, and announced that it intended to keep changing its name in future, while maintaining the "NHK Party" short form as the party's common name. On 25 April 2022, the party again changed its name to NHK Party ( NHK党 ), with its self-abbreviation being "NHK". On 8 March 2023, it

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1824-536: The People from NHK. Tachibana used YouTube to bypass the mass media, which would not cover his activism. Over the years, he used YouTube to gain multiple local council seats. In 2019, the party won its first seat in the National Diet in the 2019 House of Councillors election . The party also gained a seat in the House of Representatives when Hodaka Maruyama joined the party on 29 July 2019. The party mainly exists to counter alleged bad behaviour by NHK license fee money collectors, who Tachibana claims have connections to

1881-503: 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 individual 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 Japan Socialist Party and New Party Sakigake left

1938-427: The Prime Minister's chair until 1996 when the LDP's Ryutaro Hashimoto took over. 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

1995-517: The United States and fostered close links between Japanese business and government, playing a major role in the country's economic miracle from the 1960s to 1980s under prime ministers including Hayato Ikeda , Eisaku Satō , Kakuei Tanaka , and Yasuhiro Nakasone . 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

2052-481: 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

2109-533: 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 . 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

2166-406: 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

2223-680: 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 has faced challenges, especially among younger generations, since the 1990s. The LDP has also been compared to the corporatist -inspired model of conservative parties, such as the Christian Democratic Union of Germany , in its relative openness towards economic interventionism , mixed market coordination and public expenditure , when compared to neoliberal orthodoxy. In

2280-421: The license fee. Lacking a means of criminal prosecution, Tachibana claims that NHK has resorted to using debt collectors to pressure people for payment. The rise of the party is described as part of rising distrust of the mass media in Japan by researcher Max Guerrera-Sapone. YouTuber Yoshikazu Higashitani , known as his YouTube alias GaaSyy , was elected in the 2022 House of Councillors election , expanding

2337-557: The lower house for the first time since 2009 , with the LDP suffering its second-worst result in its history, securing only 191 seats. The Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), the main opposition party led by former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda , 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. 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Defunct Defunct The LDP

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2394-422: 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. 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,

2451-476: The party and the government. The previous Prime Minister and party president, Fumio Kishida , was the leader of the now defunct Kōchikai faction from 2012 until his resignation in 2023. Current factions in the LDP include: At the apex of the LDP's formal organization is the president ( 総裁 , sōsai ) , 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

2508-457: The party following their indictments. On 19 October 2024, Atsunobu Usuda, age 49, was arrested in Tokyo after attacking the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters with firebombs and crashing into the prime minister's residence, amid rising public frustration with the ruling party ahead of the 27 October 2024 election. In the 2024 Japanese general election , the governing LDP and its coalition partner Komeito lost their parliamentary majority in

2565-416: 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

2622-609: The party to use the official abbreviation Jimintō ( 自民党 ) , that of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party . This was rejected by the Internal Affairs Ministry , however, and so the abbreviation was instead changed to "NHK Party". The party's official website used the English name "The Party to Protect Citizens from NHK", but the English-speaking press has preferred the translation "The Party to Protect

2679-525: The party's seats in the upper house to 2. Higashitani was expelled 8 months later in March 2023 for not attending any sessions, reputedly due to his fear of being arrested on grounds of alleged fraud and defamation against celebrities if he were to visit Japan, as he was residing in the United Arab Emirates for the entirety of his term. Due to this, Tachibana would resign as the party's leader at

2736-434: The party, Takashi Tachibana , is a former employee of Japan's national public broadcasting organization NHK . He resigned from his position in the accounting department at NHK after having leaked internal corruption to weekly magazine Shūkan Bunshun in 2005. In 2012, he founded the "Tachibana one-man broadcasting station", a YouTube channel that vowed to fight against NHK. In 2013, this evolved into The Party to Protect

2793-722: 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

2850-461: The position of party leader. In response, Otsu held her own press conference, denying her resignation which split the party between the Otsu wing and the Tachibana wing. On 6 November 2023, Otsu held a press conference and announced the change of the party's name to "The Collaborative Party" (みんなでつくる党). Bankruptcy proceedings soon commenced on the party on 14 March 2024. The party was formed as

2907-506: The postwar miracle economy, the Japanese asset price bubble and other reasons such as the recruit scandal led to the LDP losing its majority in 1993 Japanese general election held in July of that year. Seven opposition parties – including several formed by LDP dissidents – formed the Hosokawa government headed by Japan New Party leader and LDP dissident Morihiro Hosokawa , who became

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2964-455: The premiership of Junichiro Koizumi 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 . After the 2024 and 2022 elections the LDP currently holds 191 seats in the House of Representatives and 119 seats in the House of Councillors ; the party has governed in coalition with Komeito since 1999. Since

3021-399: 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 , 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 to occupy

3078-417: Was again changed in January 2021 to The Party to Protect our People from NHK ([NHKから自国民を守る党] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |label= ( help ) , NHK kara jikokumin o mamoru tō ), officially abbreviated to NHK Party ( NHK党 ) . This change, the addition of the character 自 ( ji , our) before 国民 ( kokumin , people/citizen) did not alter the meaning of the party's name, but was intended to allow

3135-440: Was also historically closely positioned to corporate statism . 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: 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

3192-477: Was announced that the party would rebrand as Seijika Joshi 48 Party ([政治家女子48党] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |label= ( help ) ). In the ensuing leadership dispute between Tachibana and Otsu, the Tachibana wing attempted to change the party's name to The Party to Protect the People from NHK ( NHKから国民を守る党 ), but was rejected by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). On 6 November 2023,

3249-547: 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

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