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 (Japan, 1996) Democratic Party (Japan, 1996) The was a centrist political party in Japan, and one of the forerunners to the Democratic Party of Japan formed in 1998. Its two leading members, Yukio Hatoyama and Naoto Kan, subsequently and sequentially became Prime Ministers at the end of the first decade of the 21st century. The party was founded on 29 September 1996 by sitting members of the Diet, and was composed mostly of former Sakigake and Japan Socialist Party politicians who did not support an alliance with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Its initial leaders were Yukio Hatoyama and Naoto Kan, formerly