Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)

Liberal Democratic Party
自由民主党 or 自民党
President Shinzō Abe
Secretary-General Sadakazu Tanigaki
Spokesperson Yuriko Koike
Councillors leader Hidehisa Otsuji
Representatives leader Shinzō Abe
Founded 15 November 1955 (1955-11-15)
Headquarters 11-23, Nagatachō 1-chome, Chiyoda, Tokyo 100-8910, Japan
Membership  (2012) 789,000
Ideology Conservatism
Liberal conservatism[1]
Political position Centre-right[2] to Right-wing[3]
International affiliation None
Colors Green and Blue
Councillors
115 / 242
Representatives
291 / 475
Prefectural assembly members[4]
1,247 / 2,733
City and special ward assembly members[4]
1,671 / 19,930
Town and village assembly members[4]
92 / 11,467
Website
jimin.jp

The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (自由民主党 Jiyū-Minshutō), frequently abbreviated to LDP or Jimintō (自民党), is a conservative[5] political party in Japan. It is one of the most consistently successful political parties in the world,[6] having continuously been in power since its foundation in 1955, with the exception of a brief 11-month period between 1993 and 1994, and from 2009 to 2012. In the 2012 election it regained control of government. It holds 295 seats in the lower house and 115 seats in the upper house. Just like current Prime Minister Shinzō Abe many present and former LDP ministers are also members of the openly revisionist organization Nippon Kaigi.[7]

The LDP is not to be confused with the now-defunct Liberal Party (自由党 Jiyūtō), which merged with the Democratic Party of Japan (民主党 Minshutō), now Democratic Party (民進党 Minshintō), the main opposition party, in November 2003.[8]

History

Beginnings

Launching convention, 15 November 1955

The LDP was formed in 1955 as a merger between two of Japan's political parties, the Liberal Party (自由党 Jiyutō, 1945–1955, led by Shigeru Yoshida) and the Japan Democratic Party (日本民主党 Nihon Minshutō, 1954–1955, led by Ichirō Hatoyama), both right-wing conservative parties, as a united front against the then popular Japan Socialist Party (日本社会党 Nipponshakaitō), now Socialist Democratic Party (社会民主党 Shakaiminshutō). The party won the following elections, and Japan's first conservative government with a majority was formed by 1955. It would hold majority government until 1993.

The LDP began with reforming Japan's international relations, ranging from entry into the United Nations, to establishing diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union. Its leaders in the 1950s also made the LDP the main government party, and in all the elections of the 1950s, the LDP won the majority vote, with the only other opposition coming from the left-wing politics, made up of the Japan Socialist Party and the Japanese Communist Party.

From the 1950s through the 1970s, the United States Central Intelligence Agency spent millions of dollars attempting to influence elections in Japan to favor the LDP against more leftist parties such as the Socialists and the Communists,[9][10] although this was not revealed until the mid-1990s when it was exposed by The New York Times.[11]

1960s to 1990s

For the majority of the 1960s, the LDP (and Japan) were led by Eisaku Satō, beginning with the hosting of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and ending in 1972 with Japanese neutrality in the Vietnam War and with the beginning of the Japanese asset price bubble. By the end of the 1970s, the LDP went into its decline, where even though it held the reins of government many scandals plagued the party, while the opposition (now joined with the Komeito (Former)) gained momentum.

In 1976, in the wake of the Lockheed bribery scandals, a handful of younger LDP Diet members broke away and established their own party, the New Liberal Club (Shin Jiyu Kurabu). A decade later, however, it was reabsorbed by the LDP.

By the late 1970s, the Japan Socialist Party, the Japanese Communist Party, and the Komeito along with the international community used major pressure to have Japan switch diplomatic ties from the Republic of China to the People's Republic of China. During the 1980s, the LDP was responsible for Japan's unprecedented economic growth, and the successful economy.

Headquarters of the LDP in Tokyo.

By the early 1990s, the LDP's nearly four decades in power allowed it to establish a highly stable process of policy formation. This process would not have been possible if other parties had secured parliamentary majorities. LDP strength was based on an enduring, although not unchallenged, coalition of big business, small business, agriculture, professional groups, and other interests. Elite bureaucrats collaborated closely with the party and interest groups in drafting and implementing policy. In a sense, the party's success was a result not of its internal strength but of its weakness. It lacked a strong, nationwide organization or consistent ideology with which to attract voters. Its leaders were rarely decisive, charismatic, or popular. But it functioned efficiently as a locus for matching interest group money and votes with bureaucratic power and expertise. This arrangement resulted in corruption, but the party could claim credit for helping to create economic growth and a stable, middle-class Japan.

Out of power

But by 1993, the end of the miracle economy and other reasons (e.g. Recruit scandal) led to the LDP losing its majority in that year's general election.

Seven opposition parties—including several formed by LDP dissidents—formed a government headed by LDP dissident Morihiro Hosokawa of the Japan New Party. However, the LDP was still far and away the largest party in the House of Representatives, with well over 200 seats; no other party crossed the 80-seat mark.

In 1994, the Socialist Party and New Party Sakigake left the ruling coalition, joining the LDP in the opposition. The remaining members of the coalition tried to stay in power as a makeshift minority government, but this failed when the LDP and the Socialists, bitter rivals for 40 years, formed a majority coalition. The new government was dominated by the LDP, but it allowed a Socialist to occupy the Prime Minister's chair until 1996, when the LDP's Ryutaro Hashimoto took over.

1996–2009

In the 1996 election, the LDP made some gains, but was still 12 seats short of a majority. However, no other party could possibly form a government, and Hashimoto formed a solidly LDP minority government. Through a series of floor-crossings, the LDP regained its majority within a year.

The party was practically unopposed until 1998, when the opposition Democratic Party of Japan was formed. Since then the opposition has been gaining momentum, especially in the 2003 and 2004 Parliamentary Elections.

In the dramatically paced 2003 House of Representatives elections, the LDP won 237 seats, while the DPJ won 177 seats. In the 2004 House of Councillors elections, in the seats up for grabs, the LDP won 49 seats and the DPJ 50, though in all seats (including those uncontested) the LDP still had a total of 114. Because of this electoral loss, former Secretary General Shinzo Abe turned in his resignation, but Party President Koizumi merely demoted him in rank, and he was replaced by Tsutomu Takebe.

On 10 November 2003, the New Conservative Party (Hoshu Shintō) was absorbed into the LDP, a move which was largely because of the New Conservative Party's poor showing in the 2003 general election. The LDP formed a coalition with the conservative Buddhist New Komeito.

After a victory in the Japan general election, 2005, the LDP held an absolute majority in the Japanese House of Representatives and formed a coalition government with the New Komeito Party. Shinzo Abe succeeded then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as the president of the party on 20 September 2006. The party suffered a major defeat in the election of 2007, however, and lost its majority in the upper house for the first time in its history.

The LDP remained the largest party in both houses of the Diet, until 29 July 2007, when the LDP lost its majority in the upper house.[12]

In a party leadership election held on 23 September 2007, the LDP elected Yasuo Fukuda as its President. Fukuda defeated Taro Aso for the post, receiving 330 votes against 197 votes for Aso.[13][14] However Fukuda resigned suddenly in September 2008, and Aso became Prime Minister after winning the presidency of the LDP in a 5-way election.

In the 2009 general election, the LDP was roundly defeated, winning only 118 seats—easily the worst defeat of a sitting government in modern Japanese history, and also the first real transfer of political power in the post-war era. Accepting responsibility for this severe defeat, Aso announced his resignation as LDP president on election night. Sadakazu Tanigaki was elected leader of the party on 28 September 2009,[15] after a three way race, becoming only the second LDP leader who was not simultaneously prime minister.

Recent political history

The party's support continued to decline, with prime ministers changing rapidly, and in the 2009 House of Representatives elections the LDP lost its majority, winning only 118 seats, marking the only time they would be out of the majority other than a brief period in 1993.[16][17] Since that time, numerous party members have left to join other parties or form new ones, including Your Party (みんなの党 Minna no Tō), the Sunrise Party of Japan (たちあがれ日本 Tachiagare Nippon),[18] and the New Renaissance Party (新党改革 Shintō Kaikaku). The party had some success in the 2010 House of Councilors election, netting 13 additional seats and denying the DPJ a majority.[19][20] The LDP returned to power with its ally New Komeito after winning a clear majority in the lower house general election on 16 December 2012 after just over three years in opposition. Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister for the second time.[21]

In July 2015, the party push for expanded military powers to fight in foreign conflict through Shinzo Abe and the support of Komeito party.[22]

Ideology

Seal of the Liberal Democratic Party

The LDP has not espoused a well-defined, unified ideology or political philosophy, due to its long term regimes. Its members hold a variety of positions that could be broadly defined as being to the right of the opposition parties. The LDP traditionally identified itself with a number of general goals: rapid, export-based economic growth; close cooperation with the United States in foreign and defense policies; and several newer issues, such as administrative reform. Administrative reform encompassed several themes: simplification and streamlining of government bureaucracy; privatization of state-owned enterprises; and adoption of measures, including tax reform, in preparation for the expected strain on the economy posed by an aging society. Other priorities in the early 1990s included the promotion of a more active and positive role for Japan in the rapidly developing Asia-Pacific region, the internationalization of Japan's economy by the liberalization and promotion of domestic demand (expected to lead to the creation of a high-technology information society) and the promotion of scientific research. A business-inspired commitment to free enterprise was tempered by the insistence of important small business and agricultural constituencies on some form of protectionism and subsidies.[23] The LDP opposes the legalization of same-sex marriage.[24]

Structure

At the apex of the LDP's formal organization is the president (総裁 sōsai), who can serve two three-year terms (The presidential term was increased from two years to three years in 2002). When the party has a parliamentary majority, the party president is the prime minister. The choice of party president is formally that of a party convention composed of Diet members and local LDP figures, but in most cases, they merely approved the joint decision of the most powerful party leaders. To make the system more democratic, Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda introduced a "primary" system in 1978, which opened the balloting to some 1.5 million LDP members. The process was so costly and acrimonious, however, that it was subsequently abandoned in favor of the old "smoke-filled room" method — so-called in allusion to the notion of closed discussions held in small rooms filled with tobacco smoke.

After the party president, the most important LDP officials are the Secretary-General (kanjicho), and the chairmen of the LDP Executive Council (somukaicho) and of the Policy Affairs Research Council or "PARC" (政務調査会 seimu chōsakai).

The LDP is the most "traditionally Japanese" of the political parties because it relies on a complex network of patron-client (oyabun-kobun) relationships on both national and local levels. Nationally, a system of factions in both the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors ties individual Diet members to powerful party leaders. Locally, Diet members have to maintain koenkai (local support groups) to keep in touch with public opinion and gain votes and financial backing. The importance and pervasiveness of personal ties between Diet members and faction leaders and between citizens and Diet members gives the party a pragmatic "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" character. Its success depends less on generalized mass appeal than on the so-called sanban (three "ban"): jiban (a strong, well-organized constituency), kaban (a briefcase full of money), and kanban (prestigious appointment, particularly on the cabinet level).

Factions

The LDP has 3 major factions:

Heisei Kenkyukai (from the Liberal Party – Right Liberal)

Kouchi Kai (from Liberal Party – Keynesian economics and Right Liberal)

Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai (from Japan Democratic Party – Nationalist)

Membership

The LDP had over five million party members in 1990, but by 2012 it had around 800,000.[25]

Performance in national elections until 1993

Election statistics show that, while the LDP had been able to secure a majority in the twelve House of Representatives elections from May 1958 to February 1990, with only three exceptions (December 1976, October 1979, and December 1983), its share of the popular vote had declined from a high of 57.8 percent in May 1958 to a low of 41.8 percent in December 1976, when voters expressed their disgust with the party's involvement in the Lockheed scandal. The LDP vote rose again between 1979 and 1990. Although the LDP won an unprecedented 300 seats in the July 1986 balloting, its share of the popular vote remained just under 50 percent. The figure was 46.2 percent in February 1990. Following the three occasions when the LDP found itself a handful of seats shy of a majority, it was obliged to form alliances with conservative independents and the breakaway New Liberal Club. In a cabinet appointment after the October 1983 balloting, a non-LDP minister, a member of the New Liberal Club, was appointed for the first time. In 18 July 1993, lower house elections, the LDP fell so far short of a majority that it was unable to form a government.

In the upper house, the July 1989 election represented the first time that the LDP was forced into a minority position. In previous elections, it had either secured a majority on its own or recruited non-LDP conservatives to make up the difference of a few seats.

The political crisis of 1988–89 was testimony to both the party's strength and its weakness. In the wake of a succession of issues—the pushing of a highly unpopular consumer tax through the Diet in late 1988, the Recruit insider trading scandal, which tainted virtually all top LDP leaders and forced the resignation of Prime Minister Takeshita Noboru in April (a successor did not appear until June), the resignation in July of his successor, Uno Sosuke, because of a sex scandal, and the poor showing in the upper house election—the media provided the Japanese with a detailed and embarrassing dissection of the political system. By March 1989, popular support for the Takeshita cabinet as expressed in public opinion polls had fallen to 9 percent. Uno's scandal, covered in magazine interviews of a "kiss and tell" geisha, aroused the fury of female voters.

Uno's successor, the eloquent if obscure Kaifu Toshiki, was successful in repairing the party's battered image. By January 1990, talk of the waning of conservative power and a possible socialist government had given way to the realization that, like the Lockheed affair of the mid-1970s, the Recruit scandal did not signal a significant change in who ruled Japan. The February 1990 general election gave the LDP, including affiliated independents, a comfortable, if not spectacular, majority: 275 of 512 total representatives.

In October 1991, Prime Minister Kaifu Toshiki failed to attain passage of a political reform bill and was rejected by the LDP, despite his popularity with the electorate. He was replaced as prime minister by Miyazawa Kiichi, a long-time LDP stalwart. Defections from the LDP began in the spring of 1992, when Hosokawa Morihiro left the LDP to form the Japan New Party. Later, in the summer of 1993, when the Miyazawa government also failed to pass political reform legislation, thirty-nine LDP members joined the opposition in a no-confidence vote. In the ensuing lower house election, more than fifty LDP members formed the Shinseito and the Sakigake parties, denying the LDP the majority needed to form a government.

Presidents of the Liberal Democratic Party

With the exception of Yohei Kono and Sadakazu Tanigaki, every President of the LDP (自由民主党総裁 Jiyū-Minshutō Sōsai) has also served as Prime Minister of Japan.

No. Name Term of office Image Election results
Took Office Left Office
Interim President Committee
- Ichirō Hatoyama
鳩山 一郎
Hatoyama Ichirō
15 November 1955 5 April 1956 Interim President Committee
Bukichi Miki
三木 武吉
Miki Bukichi
Banboku Oono
大野 伴睦
Ōno Banboku
Taketora Ogata
緒方 竹虎
Ogata Taketora
28 January 1956
Tsuruhei Matsuno
松野 鶴平
Matsuno Tsuruhei
10 February 1956 5 April 1956
President
1 Ichirō Hatoyama
鳩山 一郎
Hatoyama Ichirō
5 April 1956 14 December 1956 Unopposed
Ichirō Hatoyama - 394
2 Tanzan Ishibashi
石橋 湛山
Ishibashi Tanzan
14 December 1956 21 March 1957 Tanzan Ishibashi - 258
Nobusuke Kishi - 251
3 Nobusuke Kishi
岸 信介
Kishi Nobusuke
21 March 1957 14 July 1960 1957:
Nobusuke Kishi - 471
Kenzō Matsumura - 2
Tokutaro Kitamura - 1
Mitsujirō Ishii - 1

1959:
Nobusuke Kishi - 320
Kenzō Matsumura - 166
Banboku Ōno - 1
Shigeru Yoshida - 1
Mitsujirō Ishii - 1
Shūji Masutani - 1
Eisaku Satō - 1

4 Hayato Ikeda
池田 勇人
Ikeda Hayato
14 July 1960 1 December 1964 1960:
Hayato Ikeda - 302
Mitsujirō Ishii - 194

1962:
Hayato Ikeda - 391
Eisaku Satō - 17
Hisato Ichimada - 6
Nobusuke Kishi - 5
Aiichirō Fujiyama - 3
Shigeru Yoshida - 2
Takeo Fukuda - 2
Hitoshi Takahashi - 1
Matsutarō Shōriki - 1


July 1964:
Hayato Ikeda - 242
Eisaku Satō - 160
Aiichirō Fujiyama - 72
Hirokichi Nadao - 1

5 Eisaku Satō
佐藤 榮作
Satō Eisaku
1 December 1964 5 July 1972 1964 negotiations:
Eisaku Satō - Green tick
Aiichirō Fujiyama - Red X
Ichirō Kōno - Red X

1966:
Eisaku Satō - 289
Aiichirō Fujiyama - 89
Shigesaburō Maeo - 47
Hirokichi Nadao - 11
Uichi Noda - 9
Others - 5


1968:
Eisaku Satō - 249
Takeo Miki - 107
Shigesaburō Maeo - 95
Others - 25


1970:
Eisaku Satō - 353
Takeo Miki - 111
Others - 3

6 Kakuei Tanaka
田中 角榮
Tanaka Kakuei
5 July 1972 4 December 1974 Tanaka Kakuei - 282
Fukuda Takeo - 180
7 Takeo Miki
三木 武夫
Miki Takeo
4 December 1974 23 December 1976 1974 negotiations:
Takeo Miki - Green tick
Fukuda Takeo - Red X
Masayoshi Ōhira - Red X
Yasuhiro Nakasone - Red X
8 Takeo Fukuda
福田 赳夫
'Fukuda Takeo
23 December 1976 1 December 1978 1976 negotiations:
Fukuda Takeo - Green tick
Masayoshi Ōhira - Red X
9 Masayoshi Ōhira
大平 正芳
Ōhira Masayoshi
1 December 1978 12 June 1980 1978:
Masayoshi Ōhira - 748
Fukuda Takeo - 638
Yasuhiro Nakasone - 93
Toshio Kōmoto - 46
Eiichi Nishimura
西村 英一
Nishimura Eiichi
(Acting)
12 June 1980 15 July 1980 Acting
10 Zenko Suzuki
鈴木 善幸
Suzuki Zenkō
15 July 1980 25 November 1982 1980 negotiations:
Zenko Suzuki - Green tick
Kiichi Miyazawa - Red X
Yasuhiro Nakasone - Red X
Toshio Kōmoto - Red X

Nov. 1980:
Unopposed Walkover

11 Yasuhiro Nakasone
中曾根 康弘
Nakasone Yasuhiro
25 November 1982 31 October 1987 1982:
Yasuhiro Nakasone - 57.6%
Toshio Kōmoto - 27.2%
Shintarō Abe - 8.2%
Ichirō Nakagawa - 6.8%

1984:
Unopposed Walkover


1986:
Unopposed 1-year Extension

12 Noboru Takeshita
竹下 登
Takeshita Noboru
31 October 1987 2 June 1989 1987 negotiations:
Noboru Takeshita - Green tick
Shintarō Abe - Red X
Kiichi Miyazawa - Red X
13 Sōsuke Uno
宇野 宗佑
Uno Sōsuke
2 June 1989 8 August 1989 1989 negotiations:
Sōsuke Uno - Green tick
Masayoshi Itō - Red X
14 Toshiki Kaifu
海部 俊樹
Kaifu Toshiki
8 August 1989 30 October 1991 Toshiki Kaifu - 279
Yoshirō Hayashi - 120
Shintarō Ishihara - 48
15 Kiichi Miyazawa
宮澤 喜一
Miyazawa Kiichi
31 October 1991 29 July 1993 Kiichi Miyazawa - 285
Michio Wantanabe - 120
Hiroshi Mitsuzuka - 87
16 Yōhei Kōno
河野 洋平
Kōno Yōhei
29 July 1993 1 October 1995 Yōhei Kōno - 208
Michio Wantanabe - 159
17 Ryutaro Hashimoto
橋本 龍太郎
Hashimoto Ryūtarō
1 October 1995 24 July 1998 Unopposed
18 Keizō Obuchi
小渕 恵三
Obuchi Keizō
24 July 1998 5 April 2000 1998:
Keizō Obuchi - 225
Seiroku Kajiyama - 102
Junichiro Koizumi - 84

1999:
Keizō Obuchi - 350
Koichi Kato - 113
Taku Yamasaki - 51

19 Yoshirō Mori
森 喜朗
Mori Yoshirō
5 April 2000 24 April 2001 2000 negotiations:
Yoshirō Mori - Green tick
Mikio Aoki - Red X
Masakuni Murakami - Red X
Hiromu Nonaka - Red X
Shizuka Kamei - Red X
20 Junichiro Koizumi
小泉 純一郎
Koizumi Jun'ichirō
24 April 2001 20 September 2006 2001:
Junichiro Koizumi - 298
Ryutaro Hashimoto - 155
Tarō Asō - 31

2006:
Junichiro Koizumi - 339
Shizuka Kamei - 139
Takao Fujii - 65
Masahiko Kōmura - 54

21 Shinzō Abe
安倍 晋三
Abe Shinzō
20 September 2006 26 September 2007 see election Sep 2006
Shinzō Abe - 464
Tarō Asō - 136
Sadakazu Tanigaki - 102
22 Yasuo Fukuda
福田 康夫
Fukuda Yasuo
26 September 2007 22 September 2008 see election 2007
Yasuo Fukuda - 330
Tarō Asō - 197
23 Tarō Asō
麻生 太郎
Asō Tarō
22 September 2008 16 September 2009 see election 2008
Tarō Asō - 351
Kaoru Yosano - 66
Yuriko Koike - 46
Nobuteru Ishihara - 37
Shigeru Ishiba - 25
24 Sadakazu Tanigaki
谷垣 禎一
Tanigaki Sadakazu
28 September 2009 26 September 2012 see election 2009
Sadakazu Tanigaki - 300
Taro Kono - 144
Yasutoshi Nishimura - 58
25 Shinzō Abe
安倍 晋三
Abe Shinzō
26 September 2012 Incumbent 2012:
Shinzō Abe - 108
Shigeru Ishiba - 89

2015:
Unopposed Walkover

Election results

General election results

Election Leader # of candidates # of seats won # of Constituency votes % of Constituency vote # of PR Block votes % of PR Block vote
1958 Nobusuke Kishi 413
289 / 467
23,840,170 59.0%
1960 Hayato Ikeda 399
300 / 467
22,950,404 58.1%
1963 Hayato Ikeda 359
283 / 467
22,972,892 56.0%
1967 Eisaku Satō 342
277 / 486
22,447,838 48.9%
1969 Eisaku Satō 328
288 / 486
22,381,570 47.6%
1972 Tanaka Kakuei 339
271 / 491
24,563,199 46.9%
1976 Takeo Miki 320
249 / 511
23,653,626 41.8%
1979 Masayoshi Ōhira 322
248 / 511
24,084,130 44.59%
1980 Masayoshi Ōhira 310
284 / 511
28,262,442 47.88%
1983 Yasuhiro Nakasone 339
250 / 511
25,982,785 45.76%
1986 Yasuhiro Nakasone 322
300 / 512
29,875,501 49.42%
1990 Toshiki Kaifu 338
275 / 512
30,315,417 46.14%
1993 Kiichi Miyazawa 285
223 / 511
22,999,646 36.62%
1996 Ryutaro Hashimoto 355
239 / 500
21,836,096 38.63% 18,205,955 32.76%
2000 Yoshirō Mori 337
233 / 480
24,945,806 40.97% 16,943,425 28.31%
2003 Junichiro Koizumi 336
237 / 480
26,089,326 43.85% 20,660,185 34.96%
2005 Junichiro Koizumi 346
296 / 480
32,518,389 47.80% 25,887,798 38.20%
2009 Tarō Asō 326
119 / 480
27,301,982 38.68% 18,810,217 26.73%
2012 Shinzō Abe 337
294 / 480
25,643,309 43.01% 16,624,457 27.79%
2014 Shinzō Abe 352
291 / 475
25,461,427 48.10% 17,658,916 33.11%

Councillors election results

Election Leader # of seats total # of seats won # of National votes % of National vote # of Prefectural votes % of Prefectural vote
1956 Ichirō Hatoyama
122 / 250
61 / 125
11,356,874 39.7% 14,353,960 48.4%
1959 Nobusuke Kishi
132 / 250
71 / 125
12,120,598 41.2% 15,667,022 52.0%
1962 Hayato Ikeda
142 / 250
69 / 125
16,581,637 46.4% 17,112,986 47.1%
1965 Eisaku Satō
140 / 251
71 / 125
17,583,490 47.2% 16,651,284 44.2%
1968 Eisaku Satō
137 / 250
69 / 125
20,120,089 46.7% 19,405,546 44.9%
1971 Eisaku Satō
131 / 249
62 / 125
17,759,395 44.5% 17,727,263 44.0%
1974 Kakuei Tanaka
126 / 250
62 / 125
23,332,773 44.3% 21,132,372 39.5%
1977 Takeo Fukuda
125 / 249
63 / 125
18,160,061 35.8% 20,440,157 39.5%
1980 Masayoshi Ōhira
135 / 250
69 / 125
23,778,190 43.3% 24,533,083 42.5%
1983 Yasuhiro Nakasone
137 / 252
68 / 126
16,441,437 35.3% 19,975,034 43.2%
1986 Yasuhiro Nakasone
143 / 252
72 / 126
22,132,573 38.58% 26,111,258 45.07%
1989 Sōsuke Uno
109 / 252
36 / 126
17,466,406 30.70% 15,343,455 27.32%
1992 Kiichi Miyazawa
106 / 252
68 / 126
20,528,293 45.23% 14,961,199 33.29%
1995 Yōhei Kōno
111 / 252
46 / 126
10,557,547 25.40% 11,096,972 27.29%
1998 Keizō Obuchi
102 / 252
44 / 126
17,033,851 30.45% 14,128,719 25.17%
2001 Junichiro Koizumi
111 / 247
64 / 121
22,299,825 41.04% 21,114,727 38.57%
2004 Junichiro Koizumi
115 / 242
49 / 121
16,797,686 30.03% 19,687,954 35.08%
2007 Shinzō Abe
83 / 242
37 / 121
16,544,696 28.1% 18,606,193 31.35%
2010 Sadakazu Tanigaki
84 / 242
51 / 121
14,071,671 24.07% 19,496,083 33.38%
2013 Shinzō Abe
115 / 242
65 / 121
18,460,404 34.7% 22,681,192 42.7%

See also

References

  1. Karan, Pradyumna P. (2005), Japan in the 21st century: environment, economy, and society, University Press of Kentucky
  2. The Liberal Democratic Party is widely described as centre-right:
  3. "Unwelcome Change - A Cabinet Reshuffle Poses Risks For Japan's Ties with Neightbors". The Economist. 30 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 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 2014
  5. The Liberal Democratic Party is widely described as conservative:
  6. Reference Needed
  7. "Tea Party Politics in Japan" (New York Times - 2014/09/13)
  8. "The Democratic Party of Japan". Democratic Party of Japan. 2006. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  9. Weiner, Tim (1994-10-09). "C.I.A. Spent Millions to Support Japanese Right in 50's and 60's". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
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Bibliography

External links

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