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
Social Democratic Party (Japan) 1996. Most of the other parties from the anti-LDP coalition forced back into opposition, united to form the New Frontier Party, overtaking the JSP as second largest political party in Japan. In the 1995 election, the JSP lost the election. In January 1996, the New Socialist Party split off, Murayama resigned as Prime Minister, and the JSP changed its name from the Japan Socialist Party to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) as an interim party for forming a new party. However, a movement for transforming the SDP into a new "social-democratic and liberal" party was unsuccessful. Under Murayama's successor Ryūtarō