Politics of Japan

Politics of Japan Nhật bổn の chính trị (Japanese)
Government Seal of Japan
Polity type	Unitaryparliamentary constitutional monarchy
Constitution	Constitution of Japan
Legislative branch
Name	National Diet
Type	Bicameral
Meeting place	National Diet Building
Upper house
Name	House of Councillors
Presiding officer	Hidehisa Otsuji,President of the House of Councillors
Lower house
Name	House of Representatives
Presiding officer	Fukushiro Nukaga,Speaker of the House of Representatives
Executive branch
Head of state
Title	Emperor
Currently	Naruhito
Appointer	Hereditary
Head of government
Title	Prime Minister
Currently	Shigeru Ishiba
Appointer	Emperor (Nominated by National Diet)
Cabinet
Name	Cabinet of Japan
Current cabinet	Ishiba Cabinet
Leader	Prime Minister
Appointer	Prime Minister
Headquarters	Naikaku Sōri Daijin Kantei (Prime Minister's Office of Japan)
Judicial branch
Name	Judiciary
Supreme Court
Chief judge	Saburo Tokura
Seat	Supreme Court Building

TheNational Diet BuildinginTokyo

Thepolitics ofJapanare conducted in a framework of adominant-partybicameralparliamentaryrepresentative democraticconstitutional monarchy.Ahereditary monarch,currentlyEmperorNaruhito,serves ashead of statewhile thePrime Minister of Japan,currentlyShigeru Ishibasince2024,serves as theelectedhead of government.

Legislative poweris vested in theNational Diet,which consists of theHouse of Representativesand theHouse of Councillors.The House of Representatives has eighteen standing committees ranging in size from 20 to 50 members and The House of Councillors has sixteen ranging from 10 to 45 members.

Executive poweris vested in theCabinet,which is led by the Prime Minister who is nominated by National Diet and appointed by the Emperor. ALiberal Democratic–Komeitocoalition government has held office since2012.

Judicial poweris vested in theSupreme Courtand lower courts, andsovereigntyis vested in the people of Japan by the1947 Constitution,which was written during theOccupation of Japanprimarily by American officials and had replaced the previousMeiji Constitution.Japanis considered a constitutional monarchy with a system ofcivil law.

The Japanese politics in thepost-war periodhas largely been dominated by the rulingLiberal Democratic Party(LDP), which has been in power almost continuously since its foundation in 1955, a phenomenon known as the1955 System.Of the 32 prime ministers since the end of the country'soccupationin 1952, 25 as well as the longest serving ones have been members of the LDP.Consequently, Japan has been described as ade factoone-party state.The LDP suffered a defeat in the2024 Japan general election,ending its era of political dominance. The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Japan a "full democracy" its report for 2023. According to theV-Dem Democracy indices,Japan was the 23rd most electoral democratic country in the world as of 2023.

Constitution

Main article:Constitution of Japan

See also:Meiji ConstitutionandSeventeen-article constitution

Legitimacy

The creation andratificationof this current document has been widely viewed by many geopolitical analysts and historians as one thatwas forced upon Japan by the United Statesafter theend of World War II.

Although this "imposition" claim arose originally as a rallying cry among conservative politicians in favour of constitutional revision in the 1950s, and that it wasn't "inherently Japanese", it has also been supported by the research of several independent American and Japanese historians of the period.

A competing claim, which also emerged from the political maelstrom of the 1950s revision debate, holds that the ratification decision was actually the result of apparent "collaboration" between American occupation authorities, successive Japanese governments of the time, and private sector "actors".

Government

Main article:Government of Japan

TheImperial PalaceinTokyohas been the primary residence of theEmperorsince 1869.

Article 1 of theConstitution of Japan( nhật bổn quốc hiến pháp,Nihon-koku kenpō) defines theEmperor( thiên hoàng,Tennō)to be "the symbol of the State and of the unity of the people". He performs ceremonial duties and holds no real power. Political power is held mainly by thePrime Minister,Cabinet,and other elected members of theNational Diet.TheImperial Throneis succeeded by a paternal male member of theImperial Houseas designated by theImperial Household Law.

The chief of the executive branch and head of government, thePrime Minister( nội các tổng lý đại thần,Naikaku Sōri-Daijin), isappointedby the Emperor as directed by the National Diet. They are a member of either house of the National Diet and must be a civilian. TheCabinet( nội các,Naikaku) members are nominated by the Prime Minister, and are also required to be civilian. The country has had aLiberal Democratic Party(LDP)–Komeitocoalition government, and it has been convention that thePresident of the LDPserves as the Prime Minister since2012.

Legislature

Main article:National Diet

Japanese constitution states that theNational Diet( quốc hội,Kokkai), its law-making institution, shall consist of two Houses, namely theHouse of Representatives( chúng nghị viện,Shūgiin) and theHouse of Councillors( tham nghị viện,Sangiin). The Diet shall be the highest organ of state power, and shall be the sole law-making organ of theState.It states that both Houses shall consist of elected members, representative of all the people and that the number of the members of each House shall be fixed by law. Both houses pass legislation in identical form for it to become law. Similarly to other parliamentary systems, most legislation that is considered in the National Diet is proposed by the cabinet. The cabinet then relies on the expertise of the bureaucracy to draft actual bills.

The lower house, theHouse of Representatives,the most powerful of the two, holds power over the government, being able to force its resignation. The lower house also has ultimate control of the passage of the budget, the ratification of treaties, and the selection of thePrime Minister.Its power over its sister house is, if a bill is passed by the lower house (the House of Representatives) but is voted down by the upper house (the House of Councillors), the ability to override the decision of theHouse of Councillors.Members of the lower house, as a result of the Prime Minister's power to dissolve them, more frequently serve for less than four years in any given terms.

The upper house, the House of Councillors, is very weak and bills are sent to the House of Councillors only to be approved, not made. Members of the upper house are elected for six-year terms with half the members elected every three years.

It is possible for different parties to control the lower house and the upper house, a situation referred to as a "twisted Diet", something that has become more common since theJSP took control of the upper house in 1989.

Political parties and elections

Further information:List of political parties in JapanandElections in Japan

Severalpolitical partiesexist in Japan. However, the politics of Japan have primarily been dominated by theLiberal Democratic Party(LDP) since 1955, with theDemocratic Party of Japan(DPJ) playing an important role as the opposition several times. The DPJ was the ruling party from 2009 to 2012 with the LDP as the opposition. The LDP was the ruling party for decades since 1955, despite the existence of multiple parties. Most of the prime ministers (presidents of the LDP) were elected from inner factions of the LDP.

House of Councillors

Party		National			Constituency			Seats
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Won	Not up	Total after	+/–
	Liberal Democratic Party	18,256,245	34.43	18	20,603,298	38.74	45	63	56	119	+6
	Nippon Ishin no Kai	7,845,995	14.80	8	5,533,657	10.41	4	12	9	21	+5
	Constitutional Democratic Party	6,771,914	12.77	7	8,154,330	15.33	10	17	22	39	+7
	Komeito	6,181,432	11.66	6	3,600,490	6.77	7	13	14	27	–1
	Japanese Communist Party	3,618,343	6.82	3	3,636,534	6.84	1	4	7	11	–2
	Democratic Party For the People	3,159,657	5.96	3	2,038,655	3.83	2	5	5	10	New
	Reiwa Shinsengumi	2,319,157	4.37	2	989,716	1.86	1	3	2	5	+3
	Sanseitō	1,768,385	3.33	1	2,018,215	3.80	0	1	0	1	New
	Social Democratic Party	1,258,502	2.37	1	178,911	0.34	0	1	0	1	–1
	NHK Party	1,253,872	2.36	1	1,106,508	2.08	0	1	1	2	+1
	Burdock Party	193,724	0.37	0				0	0	0	New
	Happiness Realization Party	148,020	0.28	0	134,718	0.25	0	0	0	0	0
	Japan First Party	109,046	0.21	0	74,097	0.14	0	0	0	0	New
	Kunimori Conservative Party	77,861	0.15	0	111,956	0.21	0	0	0	0	New
	Ishin Seito Shimpu	65,107	0.12	0	204,102	0.38	0	0	0	0	New
	First no Kai				284,629	0.54	0	0	0	0	New
	Children's Party				50,662	0.10	0	0	0	0	New
	Japan Reform Party				46,641	0.09	0	0	0	0	New
	Kyowa Party				41,014	0.08	0	0	0	0	New
	Free Republican Party				33,636	0.06	0	0	0	0	New
	Metaverse Party				19,100	0.04	0	0	0	0	New
	Party to Realize Bright Japan with a Female Emperor				10,268	0.02	0	0	0	0	New
	Smile Party				5,409	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Party to Know the Truth of Renewable Energy				3,868	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Peace Party				3,559	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Tenmei Party				3,283	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Party to take over U.S. military base in Okinawa to Tokyo				3,043	0.01	0	0	0	0	New
	Wake Up the Japanese Party				2,440	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Nuclear Fusion Party				1,913	0.00	0	0	0	0	New
	Independents				4,285,360	8.06	5	5	7	12	–5
Total		53,027,260	100.00	50	53,180,012	100.00	75	125	123	248	0
Valid votes		53,027,260	97.02		53,180,012	97.29
Invalid/blank votes		1,626,202	2.98		1,479,020	2.71
Total votes		54,653,462	100.00		54,659,032	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		105,019,203	52.04		105,019,203	52.05
Source:Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

House of Representatives

Main article:Results of the 2021 Japanese general election

Constituency Cartogram

Many polls had predicted a weakened LDP or even a complete loss of government control in the elections,with one poll byThe Japan Timessuggesting the party would lose around 40 seats. Though the LDP did lose 25 seats compared to the previous elections, they comfortably maintained their single-party majority in the Diet.

The opposition coalition of CDP, JCP, SDP and Reiwa Shinsengumi failed to increase its seat share, suffering a net loss of thirteen seats compared to the outgoing parliament. The CDP itself remained the largest opposition party, finishing second with 96 seats; although this marked an increase on the 55 seats won by the original CDP in the 2017 elections, the party had held 109 seats going into the elections following the merger with theDemocratic Party For the People.The JCP lost two seats going from 12 to 10, the SDP kept its one constituency seat in Okinawa, and Reiwa Shinsengumi increased its seats from one prior to the election to three.

The Osaka-based Nippon Ishin no Kai saw a strong third-place finish with 41 seats, a net gain of 30. The party won all seats in Osaka prefecture, except for four where they did not stand a candidate. The party also finished first in the Kinki Proportional Block.

Party		Proportional			Constituency			Total seats	+/–
		Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Liberal Democratic Party	19,914,883	34.66	72	27,626,235	48.08	187	259	–25
	Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan	11,492,095	20.00	39	17,215,621	29.96	57	96	New
	Nippon Ishin no Kai	8,050,830	14.01	25	4,802,793	8.36	16	41	+30
	Komeito	7,114,282	12.38	23	872,931	1.52	9	32	+3
	Japanese Communist Party	4,166,076	7.25	9	2,639,631	4.59	1	10	–1
	Democratic Party For the People	2,593,396	4.51	5	1,246,812	2.17	6	11	New
	Reiwa Shinsengumi	2,215,648	3.86	3	248,280	0.43	0	3	New
	Social Democratic Party	1,018,588	1.77	0	313,193	0.55	1	1	–1
	NHK Party	796,788	1.39	0	150,542	0.26	0	0	New
	Shiji Seitō Nashi	46,142	0.08	0				0	0
	Japan First Party	33,661	0.06	0	9,449	0.02	0	0	New
	Yamato Party	16,970	0.03	0	15,091	0.03	0	0	New
	New Party to Strengthen Corona Countermeasures by Change of Government	6,620	0.01	0				0	New
	Kunimori Conservative Party				29,306	0.05	0	0	New
	Love Earth Party				5,350	0.01	0	0	New
	Nippon Spirits Party				4,552	0.01	0	0	0
	Reform Future Party				3,698	0.01	0	0	New
	Renewal Party				2,750	0.00	0	0	New
	Party for a Successful Japan				1,630	0.00	0	0	New
	Independents				2,269,168	3.95	12	12	–10
Total		57,465,979	100.00	176	57,457,032	100.00	289	465	0
Valid votes		57,465,979	97.58		57,457,032	97.55
Invalid/blank votes		1,425,366	2.42		1,443,227	2.45
Total votes		58,891,345	100.00		58,900,259	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		105,224,103	55.97		105,224,103	55.98
Source:Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications

By prefecture

Prefecture	Total seats	Seats won
		LDP	CDP	Ishin	Komeito	DPP	JCP	SDP	Ind.
Aichi	15	11	3			1
Akita	3	2	1
Aomori	3	3
Chiba	13	9	4
Ehime	4	4
Fukui	2	2
Fukuoka	11	8	2						1
Fukushima	5	2	3
Gifu	5	5
Gunma	5	5
Hiroshima	7	5	1		1
Hokkaido	12	6	5		1
Hyōgo	12	8	1	1	2
Ibaraki	7	5				1			1
Ishikawa	3	3
Iwate	3	2	1
Kagawa	3	1	1			1
Kagoshima	4	2	1						1
Kanagawa	18	11	7
Kōchi	2	2
Kumamoto	4	3							1
Kyoto	6	2	2			1			1
Mie	4	3	1
Miyagi	6	4	2
Miyazaki	3	2	1
Nagano	5	4	1
Nagasaki	4	3				1
Nara	3	1	1						1
Niigata	6	2	3						1
Ōita	3	2							1
Okayama	5	4							1
Okinawa	4	2					1	1
Osaka	19			15	4
Saga	2		2
Saitama	15	12	3
Shiga	4	4
Shimane	2	2
Shizuoka	8	5	2						1
Tochigi	5	4	1
Tokushima	2	1							1
Tokyo	25	15	8		1				1
Tottori	2	2
Toyama	3	3
Wakayama	3	2				1
Yamagata	3	3
Yamaguchi	4	4
Yamanashi	2	2
Total	289	187	57	16	9	6	1	1	12

By PR block

PR block	Total seats	Seats won
		LDP	%	CDP	%	Ishin	%	Komeito	%	JCP	%	DPP	%	RS	%
Chūgoku	11	6	43.4%	2	18.4%	1	9.2%	2	14.0%	0	5.5%	0	3.7%	0	3.0%
Hokkaido	8	4	33.6%	3	26.6%	0	8.4%	1	11.5%	0	8.1%	0	2.9%	0	4.0%
Hokuriku–Shinetsu	11	6	41.8%	3	22.0%	1	10.3%	1	9.2%	0	6.4%	0	3.8%	0	3.2%
Kinki (Kansai)	28	8	25.7%	3	11.6%	10	33.9%	3	12.3%	2	7.8%	1	3.2%	1	3.1%
Kyushu	20	8	35.7%	4	20.1%	2	8.6%	4	16.5%	1	5.8%	1	4.4%	0	3.9%
Northern Kanto	19	7	35.2%	5	22.5%	2	10.0%	3	13.3%	1	7.2%	1	4.8%	0	3.9%
Shikoku	6	3	39.2%	1	17.2%	1	10.2%	1	13.7%	0	6.4%	0	7.2%	0	3.1%
Southern Kanto	22	9	34.9%	5	22.3%	3	11.7%	2	11.5%	1	7.2%	1	5.2%	1	4.1%
Tohoku	13	6	39.5%	4	24.1%	1	6.3%	1	11.1%	1	7.1%	0	4.8%	0	3.5%
Tokai	21	9	37.4%	5	22.1%	2	10.3%	3	11.7%	1	6.1%	1	5.7%	0	4.1%
Tokyo	17	6	31.0%	4	20.1%	2	13.3%	2	11.1%	2	10.4%	0	4.7%	1	5.6%
Total	176	72		39		25		23		9		5		3

Party-list vote by prefecture

Prefecture	LDP	CDP	Innovation	Komeito	JCP	DPFP	Reiwa	SDP
Aichi	35.9	22.4	11.0	11.3	6.4	5.7	4.4	1.3
Akita	45.4	21.1	5.6	10.8	5.9	5.2	2.7	2.3
Aomori	43.2	23.8	4.4	11.0	7.9	2.5	3.3	2.7
Chiba	35.5	22.1	11.2	12.4	7.0	5.3	3.8	1.4
Ehime	41.1	18.6	9.9	14.2	5.2	4.4	3.3	2.1
Fukui	45.9	20.9	9.1	9.5	5.3	3.6	3.4	1.1
Fukuoka	33.0	19.3	11.1	17.3	6.5	4.4	4.3	2.5
Fukushima	37.9	25.7	5.3	11.2	7.2	5.2	3.8	2.3
Gifu	40.3	20.6	10.0	11.6	6.2	5.0	3.8	1.2
Gunma	38.4	20.2	9.3	14.3	7.3	3.5	3.6	1.9
Hiroshima	45.9	17.0	10.4	12.3	4.9	3.5	2.8	1.9
Hokkaido	33.6	26.6	8.4	11.5	8.1	2.9	4.0	1.6
Hyogo	27.4	13.4	32.1	12.3	6.2	3.0	3.3	1.2
Ibaraki	38.1	20.2	9.9	14.1	5.7	5.9	3.7	1.3
Ishikawa	44.1	18.4	14.4	8.7	4.5	3.5	3.1	1.9
Iwate	35.5	29.2	4.6	9.2	8.0	5.2	3.8	3.1
Kagawa	39.9	13.1	8.7	11.7	4.5	16.4	2.5	2.0
Kagoshima	41.3	20.7	7.7	14.3	4.6	3.1	3.2	3.6
Kanagawa	34.2	22.2	12.5	10.8	7.4	5.2	4.3	1.9
Kochi	38.0	21.7	6.1	15.0	10.4	3.0	3.0	1.5
Kumamoto	40.8	19.1	7.2	17.1	4.3	3.9	3.5	2.5
Kyoto	29.2	13.7	23.0	9.8	13.2	5.1	3.7	1.1
Mie	36.3	25.0	9.1	13.8	5.3	3.9	3.9	1.2
Miyagi	37.4	22.9	10.0	11.4	7.3	3.9	3.5	2.3
Miyazaki	38.9	17.2	9.1	16.2	5.3	5.3	2.8	3.5
Nagano	35.0	26.3	9.1	10.3	8.9	3.9	3.4	2.0
Nagasaki	37.1	19.7	7.2	15.7	4.8	8.7	3.0	2.5
Nara	30.6	13.9	28.1	11.8	7.0	3.5	2.7	1.1
Niigata	43.9	24.2	6.5	8.7	6.1	4.0	3.0	2.3
Oita	36.5	22.4	7.6	14.1	5.3	3.8	3.5	5.3
Okayama	37.8	19.8	9.7	15.9	6.3	4.7	3.0	1.4
Okinawa	23.8	20.2	6.0	20.9	9.7	3.1	5.9	8.6
Osaka	20.4	9.0	42.5	13.4	7.6	2.2	2.8	1.0
Saga	41.4	25.8	6.1	12.8	3.8	3.4	3.2	2.1
Saitama	32.5	23.6	10.2	13.3	8.4	4.9	4.1	1.6
Shiga	35.1	15.8	21.2	8.7	7.3	5.1	4.2	1.5
Shimane	42.5	22.0	7.4	12.7	5.8	3.5	2.9	2.1
Shizuoka	39.3	20.9	9.7	11.3	5.6	7.0	3.6	1.3
Tochigi	38.1	24.5	10.3	11.7	4.5	4.2	3.6	1.6
Tokushima	35.8	15.6	17.0	14.4	6.9	3.9	3.8	1.2
Tokyo	31.0	20.1	13.3	11.1	10.4	4.7	5.6	1.4
Tottori	36.5	23.7	7.9	16.5	6.0	3.2	3.5	1.6
Toyama	45.7	12.7	18.4	8.4	5.0	3.5	2.9	2.2
Wakayama	33.8	11.1	21.5	15.8	7.2	5.7	2.6	0.9
Yamagata	41.7	20.9	5.1	12.4	6.0	6.9	3.4	2.3
Yamaguchi	49.6	14.7	7.4	14.4	5.4	2.8	3.5	1.4
Yamanashi	39.7	24.8	6.0	11.7	6.5	4.5	4.1	1.5
Japan	34.7	20.0	14.1	12.4	7.3	4.5	3.9	1.8

Policy making

Despite an increasingly unpredictable domestic and international environment, policy making conforms to well established postwar patterns. The close collaboration of the ruling party, theelite bureaucracyand important interest groups often make it difficult to tell who exactly is responsible for specific policy decisions.

Policy development in Japan

See also:Industrial policy of Japan,Monetary and fiscal policy of Japan,andMass media and politics in Japan

After a largely informal process within elite circles in which ideas were discussed and developed, steps might be taken to institute more formal policy development. This process often took place in deliberation councils (shingikai). There were about 200shingikai,each attached to a ministry; their members were both officials and prominent private individuals in business, education, and other fields. Theshingikaiplayed a large role in facilitating communication among those who ordinarily might not meet.

Given the tendency for real negotiations in Japan to be conducted privately (in thenemawashi,or root binding, process of consensus building), theshingikaioften represented a fairly advanced stage in policy formulation in which relatively minor differences could be thrashed out and the resulting decisions couched in language acceptable to all. These bodies were legally established but had no authority to oblige governments to adopt their recommendations. The most important deliberation council during the 1980s was the Provisional Commission for Administrative Reform, established in March 1981 by Prime MinisterSuzuki Zenko.The commission had nine members, assisted in their deliberations by six advisers, twenty-one "expert members," and around fifty "councillors" representing a wide range of groups. Its head,KeidanrenpresidentDoko Toshio,insisted that the government agree to take its recommendations seriously and commit itself to reforming the administrative structure and the tax system.

In 1982, the commission had arrived at several recommendations that by the end of the decade had been actualized. These implementations included tax reform, a policy to limit government growth, the establishment in 1984 of the Management and Coordination Agency to replace the Administrative Management Agency in the Office of the Prime Minister, and privatization of thestate-owned railroad and telephone systems.In April 1990, another deliberation council, the Election Systems Research Council, submitted proposals that included the establishment of single-seat constituencies in place of the multiple-seat system.

Another significant policy-making institution in the early 1990s was theLiberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council. It consisted of a number of committees, composed of LDP Diet members, with the committees corresponding to the different executive agencies. Committee members worked closely with their official counterparts, advancing the requests of their constituents, in one of the most effective means through which interest groups could state their case to the bureaucracy through the channel of the ruling party.

Post-war political developments in Japan

Political parties had begun to revive almost immediately after theAllied occupationbegan because ofsurrender of JapaninWorld War II.Left-wingorganizations, such as theJapan Socialist Partyand theJapanese Communist Party,quickly reestablished themselves, as did variousconservativeparties. The oldRikken SeiyūkaiandRikken Minseitōcame back as, the Liberal Party (Nihon Jiyūtō) and theJapan Progressive Party(Nihon Shimpotō) respectively. Thefirst postwar general electionwas held in 1946 (women were given the franchisefor the first time in 1946), and the Liberal Party's vice president,Yoshida Shigeru(1878–1967), became prime minister.

For the1947 general election,anti-Yoshida forces left the Liberal Party and joined forces with the Progressive Party to establish the newDemocratic Party(Minshutō). This divisiveness in conservative ranks gave a plurality to the Japan Socialist Party, which was allowed to form a cabinet, which lasted less than a year. Thereafter, the socialist party steadily declined in its electoral successes. After a short period of Democratic Party administration, Yoshida returned in late 1948 and continued to serve as prime minister until 1954.

Even before Japan regained full sovereignty, the government had rehabilitated nearly 80,000 people who had been purged, many of whom returned to their former political and government positions. A debate over limitations onmilitary spendingand thesovereignty of the Emperorensued, contributing to the great reduction in the Liberal Party's majority in thefirst post-occupation elections (October 1952).After several reorganizations of the armed forces, in 1954 theJapan Self-Defense Forces(JSDF) were established under a civilian director.Cold Warrealities and the hotwarin nearbyKoreaalso contributed significantly to theUnited States-influencedeconomic redevelopment,the suppression ofcommunism,and the discouragement oforganized laborin Japan during this period.

Continual fragmentation of parties and a succession ofminority governmentsled conservative forces to merge the Liberal Party (Jiyūtō) with the Japan Democratic Party (Nihon Minshutō), an offshoot of the earlier Democratic Party, to form theLiberal Democratic Party(Jiyū-Minshutō; LDP) in November 1955, called1955 System.This party continuously held power from 1955 through 1993, except for a short while when it was replaced by a new minority government. LDP leadership was drawn from the elite who had seen Japan through the defeat and occupation. It attracted former bureaucrats, local politicians, businessmen, journalists, other professionals, farmers, and university graduates.

In October 1955, socialist groups reunited under theJapan Socialist Party(JSP), which emerged as the second most powerful political force. It was followed closely in popularity by theKomeito,founded in 1964 as the political arm of theSoka Gakkai(Value Creation Society), until 1991, a lay organization affiliated with theNichiren ShōshūBuddhist sect. The Komeito emphasized the traditional Japanese beliefs and attracted urban laborers, former rural residents, and women. Like theJapan Socialist Party,it favored the gradual modification and dissolution of theJapan-United States Mutual Security Assistance Pact.

Political developments since 1990

The LDP domination lasted until the National DietLower House general election on 18 July 1993,in which LDP failed to win amajority.Acoalitionof new parties and existing opposition parties formed a governing majority and elected a new non-LDP prime minister,Morihiro Hosokawa(leader ofJapan New Party), in August 1993. His government's major legislative objective was political reform, consisting of a package of new political financing restrictions and major changes in theelectoral system.The coalition succeeded in passing landmark political reform legislation in January 1994.

In April 1994, Prime Minister Hosokawa resigned. Prime MinisterTsutomu Hata(leader ofJapan Renewal Party) formed the successor coalition government, Japan's first minority government in almost 40 years. Prime Minister Hata resigned less than two months later. Prime MinisterTomiichi Murayama(leader of JSP) formed the next government in June 1994 with the coalition of JSP, the LDP, and the smallNew Party Sakigake.The advent of a coalition containing the JSP and LDP shocked many observers because of their previously fierce rivalry.

Prime Minister Murayama served from June 1994 to January 1996. He was succeeded by Prime MinisterRyutaro Hashimoto(president of the LDP), who served from January 1996 to July 1998. Prime Minister Hashimoto headed a loose coalition of three parties until theJuly 1998 Upper House election,when the two smaller parties cut ties with the LDP. Hashimoto resigned due to a poor electoral performance by the LDP in the Upper House elections. He was succeeded as party president of the LDP and prime minister byKeizō Obuchi,who took office on 30 July 1998. The LDP formed a governing coalition with theLiberal Partyin January 1999, and Obuchi remained prime minister. The LDP-Liberal coalition expanded to include the New Komeito Party in October 1999.

Political developments since 2000

Prime Minister Obuchi suffered a stroke in April 2000 and was replaced byYoshirō Mori.After the Liberal Party left the coalition in April 2000, Prime Minister Mori welcomed a Liberal Party splinter group, theNew Conservative Party,into the ruling coalition. The three-party coalition made up of the LDP, New Komeito, and the New Conservative Party maintained its majority in the Diet following the June 2000 Lower House elections.

After a turbulent year in office in which he saw his approval ratings plummet to the single digits, Prime Minister Mori agreed to hold early elections for the LDP presidency in order to improve his party's chances in crucialJuly 2001 Upper House elections.On 24 April 2001, riding a wave of grassroots desire for change, maverick politicianJunichiro Koizumidefeated former prime minister Hashimoto and other party stalwarts on a platform of economic and political reform.

Koizumi was elected as Japan's 56th Prime Minister on 26 April 2001. On 11 October 2003, Prime Minister Koizumi dissolved thelower houseand he was re-elected as the president of the LDP. Likewise, that year, the LDP won thegeneral election,even though it suffered setbacks from the new opposition party, theliberalandsocial-democraticDemocratic Party(DPJ). A similar event occurred during the2004 Upper House electionas well.

On 8 August 2005, Prime MinisterJunichiro Koizumicalled for asnap general electionto the lower house, as threatened, after LDP stalwarts and opposition DPJ parliamentarians defeated his proposal for a large-scale reform and privatization ofJapan Post,which besides being Japan's state-owned postal monopoly is arguably the world's largest financial institution, with nearly 331 trillion yen of assets. The election was scheduled for 11 September 2005, with the LDP achieving a landslide victory underJunichiro Koizumi's leadership.

The ruling LDP started losing hold in 2006. No prime minister except Koizumi had good public support. On 26 September 2006, the new LDP PresidentShinzo Abewas elected by a special session of the National Diet to succeedJunichiro Koizumias the next prime minister. He was Japan's youngest post-World War II prime minister and the first born after the war. On 12 September 2007, Abe surprised Japan by announcing his resignation from office. He was replaced byYasuo Fukuda,a veteran of LDP.

In the meantime, on 4 November 2007, the leader of the main opposition party,Ichirō Ozawaannounced his resignation from the post of party president, after controversy over an offer to the DPJ to join the ruling coalition in agrand coalition,but has since, with some embarrassment, rescinded his resignation.

On 11 January 2008, Prime MinisterYasuo Fukudaforced a bill allowing ships to continue a refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of US-led operations in Afghanistan. To do so, PM Fukuda used the LDP's overwhelming majority in the Lower House to ignore a previous "no-vote" of the opposition-controlled Upper House. This was the first time in 50 years that the Lower House voted to ignore the opinion of the Upper House. Fukuda resigned suddenly on 1 September 2008, just a few weeks after reshuffling his cabinet. On 1 September 2008, Fukuda's resignation was designed so that the LDP did not suffer a "power vacuum". It thus caused a leadership election within the LDP, and the winner,Tarō Asō(Shigeru Yoshida's grandson) was chosen as the new LDP president on 24 September 2008, he was appointed as the 92nd Prime Minister after the House of Representatives voted in his favor in the extraordinary session of the National Diet.

Later, on 21 July 2009, Prime Minister Asō dissolved the House of Representatives andgeneral electionwas held on 30 August. The election results for the House of Representatives were announced on 30 and 31 August 2009. The opposition party DPJ led byYukio Hatoyama(Ichirō Hatoyama's grandson), won a majority by gaining 308 seats (10 seats were won by its allies the Social Democratic Party and the People's New Party). On 16 September 2009, the leader of DPJ, Hatoyama was elected by theHouse of Representativesas the 93rdPrime Minister of Japan.

Political developments since 2010

On 2 June 2010, Hatoyama resigned due to lack of fulfillments of his policies, both domestically and internationallyand soon after, on 8 June,Akihito,Emperor of Japan ceremonially swore in thenewly elected DPJ's leader,Naoto Kanas the 94th prime minister.Kan suffered an early setback in the2010 Japanese House of Councillors election.In a routine political change in Japan, DPJ's new leader and formerfinance ministerof Kan Cabinet,Yoshihiko Nodawas cleared and elected by the National Diet as 95th prime minister on 30 August 2011. He was officially appointed as prime minister in the attestation ceremony by Emperor Akihito at theTokyo Imperial Palaceon 2 September 2011.

Noda dissolved the lower house on 16 November 2012 (as he failed to get support outside the Diet on various domestic issues i.e.consumption tax,nuclear energy) andgeneral electionwas held on 16 December. The results were in favor of the LDP, which won an absolute majority in the leadership of former prime ministerShinzo Abe.He was appointed as the 96th Prime Minister of Japan on 26 December 2012.With the changing political situation, earlier in November 2014, Prime Minister Abe called for a fresh mandate for the Lower House. In an opinion poll the government failed to win public trust due to bad economic achievements in the two consecutive quarters and on the tax reforms.

Thegeneral electionwas held on 14 December 2014, and the results were in favor of the LDP and its ally New Komeito. Together they managed to secure a huge majority by winning 325 seats for the Lower House. The opposition, DPJ, could not manage to provide alternatives to the voters with its policies and programs. "Abenomics",the ambitious self-titled fiscal policy of the current prime minister, managed to attract more voters in this election, many Japanese voters supported the policies. Shinzō Abe was sworn as the 97th prime minister on 24 December 2014 and would go ahead with his agenda of economic revitalization and structural reforms in Japan.

Prime Minister Abe was elected again for a fourth term after the2017 general election.It was a snap election called by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.Abe's ruling coalition won a clear majority with more than two-thirds of 465 seats in the lower house of Parliament (House of Representatives). The opposition was in deep political crisis.

In July 2019, Japan had anational election.The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Prime Minister Abe won a majority of seats in the upper house of Parliament (House of Councillors). However, Abe failed to achieve the two-thirds majority, and the ruling coalition could not amend the constitution.

Political developments since 2020

On 28 August 2020 following reports of ill-health, Abe resigned citing health concerns, triggering aleadership electionto replace him as prime minister.Abe was the longest-serving Prime Minister in the political history of Japan.

After winning the leadership of the governing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),Chief Cabinet SecretaryYoshihide Suga,a close ally of his predecessor, was elected as the 99th prime minister of Japan on 16 September 2020.On 2 September 2021, Suga announced that he would not seekreelection as LDP President,effectively ending his term as prime minister.On 4 October 2021,Fumio Kishidatook office as new prime minister. Kishida was elected leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) previous week. He was officially confirmed as the 100th prime minister following a parliamentary vote with appointment by Emperor Naruhito at Tokyo Imperial Palace.On 31 October 2021, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) held onto its single party majority in thegeneral election.

On 8 July 2022,former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot and killed at a campaign rallyinNarafor the2022 Japanese House of Councillors election.State funeral of Abe was held on 27 September atNippon Budokan.

On 1 October 2024, Japan’s parliament confirmedShigeru Ishiba,new leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), as the new prime minister to replace Fumio Kishida.

See also

• Foreign relations of Japan
• Government of Japan
• Law of Japan
• Liberalism in Japan
• Honebuto no hōshin
• Neoconservatism in Japan
• Political extremism in Japan
• Political status of women in Japan
• Anti-fascism
• Post–World War II anti-fascism

References

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.Japan: A Country Study.Federal Research Division.

Further reading

• Curtis, Gerald (1999).The Logic of Japanese Politics: Leaders, Institutions, and the Limits of Change.New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN9780231502542.Archivedfrom the original on 27 May 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.
• Hattori, Ryuji (2019).Understanding History in Asia: What Diplomatic Documents Reveal.Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture. Archived fromthe originalon 27 May 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.
• Hosoya, Yuichi (2019).Security Politics in Japan: Legislation for a New Security Environment.Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture. Archived fromthe originalon 27 May 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.
• Iokibe, Makoto (2017).The History of US-Japan Relations: From Perry to the Present.New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Archived fromthe originalon 3 June 2019.Retrieved3 June2019.
• Kimura, Kan (2019).The Burden of the Past: Problems of Historical Perception in Japan-Korea Relations.Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Archived fromthe originalon 27 May 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.
• Kitaoka, Shinichi (2018).The Political History of Modern Japan: Foreign Relations and Domestic Politics.Abingdon: Routledge.Archivedfrom the original on 27 May 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.
• Miyagi, Taizo (2017).Japan's Quest for Stability in Southeast Asia: Navigating the Turning Points in Postwar Asia.Abingdon: Routledge.Archivedfrom the original on 27 May 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.
• Neary, Ian (2019).The State and Politics in Japan, 2nd Edition.Cambridge: Polity.Archivedfrom the original on 9 May 2020.Retrieved27 May2019.
• Oros, Andrew (2017).Japan's Security Renaissance: New Policies and Politics for the Twenty-First Century.New York: Columbia University Press.ISBN9780231542593.Archivedfrom the original on 27 May 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.
• Sakai, Hidekazu and Sato Yoichiro (2017).Re-rising Japan: Its Strategic Power in International Relations.Bern: Peter Lang. Archived fromthe originalon 27 May 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.
• Serita, Kentaro (2018).The Territory of Japan: Its History and Legal Basis.Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture. Archived fromthe originalon 27 May 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.
• Smith, Sheila (2019).Japan Rearmed: The Politics of Military Power.Boston: Harvard University Press. Archived fromthe originalon 8 June 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.
• Tanaka, Akihiko (2017).Japan in Asia: Post-Cold-War Diplomacy.Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture. Archived fromthe originalon 27 May 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.
• The Yomiuri Shimbun Political News Department (2017).Perspectives on Sino-Japanese Diplomatic Relations.Tokyo: Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture. Archived fromthe originalon 27 May 2019.Retrieved27 May2019.

External links

• Electronic journal of contemporary japanese studiesArchived8 November 2005 at theWayback Machine
• JapanesePolitics