Political parties of the Empire of Japan public assembly, the press and on political discussion. The Meiji government had come to power by an elite of "samurai" from certain clans ("hanbatsu") and the "genrō" felt threatened by anything looking ever remotely like republicanism or democracy. During this period, Itagaki Taisuke and Ōkuma Shigenobu were leading figures in the legitimization of political parties. Itagaki created Japan's first political party, the Aikoku Kōtō, in 1873 in Tokyo to petition for an elected assembly, and a similar regional party based in Osaka, the Aikokusha. These groups were the basis of the Jiyutō (Liberal Party), founded in 1881 as Japan’s first
Japan Innovation Party larger Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) announced an agreement to merge ahead of the Upper House elections in July 2016. On 14 March 2016 the Japanese name of the new party was announced as "Minshintō", having been the most popular choice of two possible names among voters. On 27 March 2016, the DPJ, Vision of Reform, JIP and other minor parties merged to form the new Democratic Party. Japan Innovation Party The was a political party in Japan. It was launched on 22 September 2014, following the merger of the Japan Restoration Party headed by Tōru Hashimoto, and the Unity