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
Democratic Party of Japan Democratic Party of Japan The was a centrist political party in Japan from 1998 to 2016. The party's origins lie in the previous Democratic Party of Japan, which was founded in September 1996 by politicians of the centre-right and centre-left with roots in the Liberal Democratic Party and Japan Socialist Party. In April 1998 the previous DPJ merged with splinters of the New Frontier Party to create a new party which retained the DPJ name. In 2003 the party was joined by the Liberal Party of Ichirō Ozawa. Following the 2009 election, the DPJ became the ruling party in the