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
New Socialist Party of Japan New Socialist Party of Japan The is a left-wing party created in Japan on 3 March 1996, by a group of left wingers who left the Social Democratic Party. The party has some similarities to the Japanese Communist Party. It says that people can have "freedom of thought and religious beliefs". A peaceful democratic revolution, peace, and human rights constitute what the party desires to be part of Japan's constitution. Another idea they support is direct democracy. Another viewpoint that the party shares with the Japanese Communist Party, although slightly different, is the belief Japan should completely stop using its