Liberal Party (Japan, 1881) Liberal Party (Japan, 1881) The is the name of several liberal political parties in the history of Japan, two of which existed in the Empire of Japan prior to 1945. The first Liberal Party of Japan was formed on October 18, 1881, by Itagaki Taisuke and other members of the Freedom and People's Rights Movement (League for the Establishment of a National Assembly) to agitate for the establishment of a national assembly, with a membership based on the ideals of liberal democracy under a constitutional monarchy. It attracted a wide following of former "samurai" who were discontent because they were
Liberal Party (Japan, 1950) Liberal Party (Japan, 1950) The Liberal Party (, "Jiyutō") was a political party in Japan. The party was established in March 1950 as a merger of the Democratic Liberal Party led by Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida (which held a majority in the House of Representatives) and 22 MPs from the Alliance faction of the Democratic Party, although Alliance leader Takeru Inukai did not join the new party. In the April 1950 House of Councillors elections it won 52 of the 132 seats. In August 1952 Ichirō Hatoyama was allowed to rejoin the party, having been banned from politics as a