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 Liberal Party (Japan) Democratic Liberal Party (Japan) The Democratic Liberal Party (, "Minshujiyutō Minjutō") was a political party in Japan. The party was established in March 1947 as a merger of the Liberal Party, Dōshi Club and a faction of the Democratic Party led by Saitō Takao. United by their opposition to the coal nationalisation law, the new party had 152 MPs and 46 members of the House of Councillors. As a result of the DLP's attempts to block Yamazaki Takeshi from forming a new government after Hitoshi Ashida resigned as Prime Minister, the party's Shigeru Yoshida became Prime Minister in October 1948