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 Progressive Party a group from the National Cooperative Party. At the end of March the decision was taken to dissolved the JPP and form the Democratic Party. Japan Progressive Party The Japan Progressive Party (, "Nihon Shimpotō") was a political party in Japan. The party was established on 16 November 1945 by a group of 273 MPs, of whom 89 had been Rikken Minseitō members and 46 from Rikken Seiyūkai; many had been elected with the backing of the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in the 1942 elections. Machida Chūji was appointed party president after the post was turned down by Keizo Shibusawa.