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
Factions in the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) Factions in the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (自由民主党 "Jiyū-Minshutō") is the ruling party of Japan, with Party President Shinzō Abe being the Prime Minister of Japan. The Liberal Democratic Party (as well as the Democratic Party of Japan, the main opposition party) is characterized by factionalism, where factions are sub-groups within a larger organisation. While factions characterize other political parties in Pacific Asia, Japanese factionalism is distinguished by its stability and institutionalization. Since the genesis of the Liberal Democratic Party in 1955, factions have existed, but they have changed over time. Despite this change,