Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)
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Liberal Democratic Party 自由民主党 Jiyū-Minshutō | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | LDP Lib Dems[1] Jimintō |
| President | Sanae Takaichi |
| Vice President | Tarō Asō |
| Secretary-General | Shun'ichi Suzuki |
| Founders | |
| Founded | 15 November 1955 (69 years, 359 days) |
| Merger of | |
| Headquarters | 11–23, Nagatachō 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo 100-8910, Japan |
| Newspaper | Jiyu Minshu[2] |
| Student wing | LDP Students Division[3] |
| Youth wing | LDP Youth |
| Membership |  1,028,662 (2024 est.) |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wingA[›][4] |
| National affiliation | LDP–Komeito coalition |
| International affiliation | International Democrat Union (formerly) |
| Colours | |
| Slogan | 日本を守る。成長を力に。 Nihon o mamoru. Seichō o chikara ni. ('Protect Japan. Turn growth into strength.')[6] |
| Anthem | "われら" Ware-ra ('We')[7] |
| Councillors | 101 / 248 |
| Representatives | 195 / 465 |
| Prefectures[8] | 1,301 / 2,644 |
| Municipalities[8] | 2,137 / 29,135 |
| Election symbol | |
| |
| Party flag | |
_Flag.svg) | |
| Website | |
| |
^ A: The Liberal Democratic Party is a big-tent conservative party (see factions table below).[9] The LDP has also been described as centre-right,[10] but the LDP has far-right[11][12] and ultraconservative[13] factions, including members belonging to the ultranationalist Nippon Kaigi. | |
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The Liberal Democratic Party (Japanese:自由民主党 Jiyū-Minshutō; or just Jiminto) is one of the main political parties in Japan. It has ruled Japan for most of the time since World War II. The party is conservative.[14][15][16]
Since 2025, the current leader is Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the first female president of the LDP.[17] Former Prime Minister Tarō Asō has been the party's vice president since 2025. Former Finance Minister Shun'ichi Suzuki has been the party's secretary-general since 2025.
The party wants a close relationship with the United States, and wants fast export-based economic growth. They also want to undergo more privatization. The party is social conservative,[18] and is against the legalization of same-sex marriage. Jiminto is also a Japanese nationalist political party.[19]
In 2012, the Liberal Democratic Party had around 800,000 members.[20] Some important people from the party are also members of the Nippon Kaigi, a far-right organization.[21]
Notes
[change | change source]- ↑ Still used on the English website
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Semans, Himari; Ninivaggi, Gabriele (2024-11-07). "LDP lawmakers urge Ishiba to step down after budget passage next year". The Japan Times. Retrieved 2025-01-09.
- ↑ Endo, Masahisa; Pekkanen, Robert (2018). "The LDP: Return to Dominance? Or a Golden Age Built on Sand?". In Pekkanen, Robert (ed.). Critical Readings on the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan. Vol. 4. Brill. p. 1626. ISBN 978-90-04-38055-4. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
The Jiyu Minshu, the LDP's party paper, began to focus on rural development from June 2014.
- ↑ "自民党学生部". www.tokyo-jimin.jp. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
- ↑
- Florian Coulmas, ed. (2023). Japanese Propriety, Past and Present: Disciplined Liberalism. Taylor & Francis. p. 88. ISBN 9781000885835.
... in Japan's post-war political discourse often supporting leftist and socialist positions opposed to the ruling right-wing Liberal Democratic Party, which has always been favoured by Washington.
- "Japan's right-wing Liberal Democratic Party dominates parliamentary election". Business Insider. 10 July 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
- Shorrock, Tim (27 August 2019). "In a Major Shift, South Korea Defies Its Alliance With Japan". The Nation. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- Akito Okada, ed. (2022). Japan's School Curriculum for The 2020s: Politics, Policy, and Pedagogy. Springer Nature. p. 14. ISBN 9789811920769.
In the case of Japan, the ideological basis of the right-wing LDP had almost no element of liberal (as in libertarian) thought, such as reliance on anti-nationalist liberalism and individualism, or vigilance against a centrally planned economy and welfare system.
- Arve Hansen; Jo Inge Bekkevold; Kristen Nordhaug, eds. (2020). The Socialist Market Economy in Asia: Development in China, Vietnam and Laos. Springer Nature. p. 318. ISBN 9789811562488.
Japan's economic miracle was largely formed under the leadership of the conservative right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), ...
- Lam Peng Er; Purnendra Jain, eds. (2020). Japan's Foreign Policy in the Twenty-First Century: Continuity and Change. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 96. ISBN 9781498587969.
The rising tide of hawkish nationalism and historical revisionism spearheaded by the right-wing LDP Prime Minister Abe Shinzo in recent decades seems to confirm the doubt.
- Arthur Alexander (June 2018). "Expert Voices on Japan: Security, Economic, Social, and Foreign Policy Recommendations" (PDF). Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation.
- Katsuyuki Hidaka, ed. (2016). Japanese Media at the Beginning of the 21st Century. Routledge. ISBN 9781134988778.
Criticism of the unreservedly right-wing Liberal Democratic Party administration led by Abe Shinzō nevertheless remains strong. Together with advocating for changes to the constitution, the Abe administration has succeeded in passing ...
- Florian Coulmas, ed. (2023). Japanese Propriety, Past and Present: Disciplined Liberalism. Taylor & Francis. p. 88. ISBN 9781000885835.
- ↑ 日本に定着するか、政党のカラー [Will the colors of political parties settle in Japan?]. The Nikkei (in Japanese). Nikkei, Inc. 21 October 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- ↑ "自民党". jimin.jp. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
- ↑ 党歌・シンボル. jimin.jp. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
- 1 2 Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, party membership statistics for chief executives and assembly members in prefectures and municipalities: Prefectural and local assembly members and governors/mayors by political party as of 31 December 2023
- ↑ Ellington, Lucien (2009-07-14). Japan. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-59884-162-6.
- ↑
- "Japan PM Yoshihide Suga to quit over discontent at Covid response". The Guardian. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
Whoever ends up winning the contest for PM, there are unlikely to be major policy shifts by the centre-right LDP.
- "Japan goes to polls in one of most unpredictable elections in years: here's what's at stake". The Independent. 27 October 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
Japan has been ruled by the same centre-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) for 65 of the past 69 years.
- "Commentary: A disastrous poll puts Japan politics on shaky path". Channel NewsAsia. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
But the LDP is fundamentally a centre-right organisation, and Ishiba offered no olive branch to the party's conservative wing.
- "Why Fumio Kishida's Future as Japan's Prime Minister Looks Uncertain". Time. 23 May 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
Though the center-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has dominated the country's politics for nearly seven decades, the top job has frequently changed hands.
[permanent dead link] - "Shigeru Ishiba to be Japan's leader, winning on fifth attempt". Reuters. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
"We ought to be a party that lets members discuss the truth in a free and open manner, a party that is fair and impartial on all matters and a party with humility," he told a press conference after winning the centre-right party's contest.
- "Japan PM Yoshihide Suga to quit over discontent at Covid response". The Guardian. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- ↑ Some sources also assessed that the LDP was founded with funds from ultranationalist, and some sources refer to the LDP as far-right ultranationalist:
- Matthew Pointon, ed. (2017). Across Asia With A Lowlander. Lulu.com. p. 12. ISBN 9780244043544.
Ever since the culmination of the Second World War, the far right Liberal Democratic Party has firmly held the reins of power, with only a couple of minor interruptions.
- "Beautiful Harmony: Political Project Behind Japan's New Era Name – Analysis". eurasia review. 16 July 2019.
The shifting dynamics around the new era name (gengō 元号) offers an opportunity to understand how the domestic politics of the LDP's project of ultranationalism is shaping a new Japan and a new form of nationalism.
- Margaret DiCanio PhD, ed. (2004). Encyclopedia of Violence. iUniverse. ISBN 9780595316526.
In 1955, with funds from the ultranationalists, the conservatives merged the Liberal Party with the Democratic Party to form the Liberal Democratic Party (LPD), which effectively held the Japanese Communist Party in check.
- Matthew Pointon, ed. (2017). Across Asia With A Lowlander. Lulu.com. p. 12. ISBN 9780244043544.
- ↑
- Mark R. Mullins, ed. (2021). The Routledge Handbook of Japanese Politics. University of Hawaii Press. p. 94. ISBN 9780824890162.
The first is provided by Yamatani Eriko, one of the darlings of Shinseiren and a person who represents the far right of the LDP.
- "The Dangerous Impact of the Far-Right in Japan". Washington Square News. 15 April 2019.
Another sign of the rise of the uyoku dantai's ideas is the growing power of the Nippon Kaigi. The organization is the largest far-right group in Japan and has heavy lobbying clout with the conservative LDP; 18 of the 20 members of Shinzo Abe's cabinet were once members of the group.
- "Why Steve Bannon Admires Japan". The Diplomat. 22 June 2018.
In Japan, populist and extreme right-wing nationalism has found a home within the political establishment.
- Wesley Yee (January 2018). "Making Japan Great Again: Japan's Liberal Democratic Party as a Far Right Movement". The University of San Francisco.
- "Japan's ruling party under fire over links to far-right extremists". The Guardian. 13 October 2014.
- "For Abe, it will always be about the Constitution". The Japan Times. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
Of those three victories, the first election in December 2012 was a rout of the leftist Democratic Party of Japan and it thrust the more powerful Lower House of Parliament firmly into the hands of the long-incumbent Liberal Democratic Party under Abe. The second election in December 2014 further normalized Japan's lurch to the far right, giving the ruling coalition a supermajority of 2/3 of the seats in the Lower House.
- "Shinzo Abe? That's Not His Name, Says Japan's Foreign Minister". The New York Times. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
Mr. Abe is strongly supported by the far right wing of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which hews to tradition and tends toward insularity.
- Leonel Lim, Michael W. Apple, ed. (2016). The Strong State and Curriculum Reform: Assessing the politics and possibilities of educational change in Asia. Routledge. p. 167. ISBN 9781317579236.
... Far right LDP legislators led by Prime Minister (PM) Shinzo ̄ Abe demanded the withdrawal of the 1993 Ko ̄no Statement and attacked the ...
- Mark R. Mullins, ed. (2021). The Routledge Handbook of Japanese Politics. University of Hawaii Press. p. 94. ISBN 9780824890162.
- ↑
- "Japan is having an election next month. Here's why it matters". The Japan Times. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
When Abe appointed five female ministers in September, two of which were forced to step down over scandals, a number of political commentators viewed the move with some cynicism, suggesting that the prime minister didn't pay much attention to the qualifications of the candidates. Most of the women he chose were ultra-conservatives such as Eriko Yamatani, minister in charge of the North Korea abductee issue.
- "Japan, led by less apologetic generation, stays tough in South Korea feud". Reuters. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
Electoral system changes and three years in opposition helped ultra-conservative lawmakers and lobby groups strengthen their clout in the LDP.
- "Japan is having an election next month. Here's why it matters". The Japan Times. 22 November 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- ↑ Roger Blanpain; Michele Tiraboschi (2008). The Global Labour Market: From Globalization to Flexicurity. Kluwer Law International. p. 268. ISBN 978-90-411-2722-8.
- ↑ Jeff Kingston (26 November 2013). Japan in Transformation, 1945-2010. Routledge. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-317-86192-8.
- ↑ Larry Diamond; Richard Gunther (26 December 2001). Political Parties and Democracy. JHU Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-8018-6863-4.
- ↑ {{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/04/japan/politics/ldp-election-winner-takaichi/%7Ctitle=Takaichi wins LDP leadership vote; likely to become Japan's first female PM|publisher=The Japan Times|date=4 October 2025|accessdate=4 October 2025]]
- ↑ Inada, Miho; Dvorak, Phred. "Same-Sex Marriage in Japan: A Long Way Away?" Archived 16 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine. The Wall Street Journal. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
- ↑ "The Resurgence of Japanese Nationalism (the Globalist)". Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 2016-07-11.
- ↑ Japan Times What’s the LDP’s true agenda? 23 March 2013 Archived 7 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Yoshio Sugimoto, ed. (2020). An Introduction to Japanese Society. Cambridge University Press. p. 242. ISBN 9781108724746.
Parts of the Japanese establishment have ties with a large far-right voluntary organization, Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference), whose ranks include grassroots members across the nation as well as national and local politicians...
Other websites
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