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 New Party Minister leading a broad coalition, but was soon forced to resign. By 1994, the Japan New Party dissolved, its members flowing into the New Frontier Party (新進党). Japan New Party The Japan New Party (日本新党 "Nihon Shintō") was a Japanese political party that existed briefly from 1992 to 1994. The party, considered liberal, was founded by Morihiro Hosokawa, a former diet member and Kumamoto Prefecture governor, who left the Liberal Democratic Party to protest corruption scandals. In 1992, the party elected four members to the House of Councillors, including Hosokawa. Although this was a disappointing result for them, in 1993